Desire
by Aly208
Summary: Ponyboy's body starts to become more developed as he gets older. Unfortunately, this causes some boys to sexually harass him. The gang is beyond pissed.
1. The Beginning

**Please, before you start this story, read the Author's note (but you can skip the first paragraph if you like). **

Hey guys, this is Aly208, starting her first ever Outsiders fanfic! I had read this book for school, and I've absolutely fallen in love with it, especially with lovely Ponyboy (who is, by the way, totally the cutest of all of the gang!). So, as this being my first Outsiders fic, I hope it'll end up being something good (although I'm not expecting many people to read it). I will say that this story has been rather unexpected; since I had never planned to do any stories about this fandom (I still have a story on hiatus in the Hetalia fandom that I have to get to, but I've been so lazy with it!).

This story **will not **be a light hearted fic. It will be more so in the beginning, but that's when all the trouble begins. This will be a serious fanfiction (which was also unexpected, funnily enough), so if you expect some cute over protectiveness and only some light harassment, don't stick around for too long. It'll get more serious within three – four chapters. I think I'll start this as T rated, but I will make it M rated somewhere along the line. But don't worry, I will surely alert you guys in the chapter before I do so.

Also, I know that in the sixties gay people were heavily disapproved of, and that boys, let alone girls, did not wear revealing clothing. However, this is already an AU (yes, that's right, Johnny and Dally are alive, and none of things in the book happened), so I decided, what the heck, let's change up some of the past as well. So please forgive me for the clothing types that haven't existed at the time, everyone seeming gay or bisexual, all the phrases that hadn't existed yet, etc . . . I've tried to keep some things as they are, though (like the types of cars, some of the phrases, how technology wasn't as developed as today, etc . . .).

Now that I've got the most important things done with, this story will also end up with a slash couple at the end (which means male x male), but I will not reveal which couple because I want it to be a surprise. I'll give you a hint, though, it involves Ponyboy (totally unsurprising, I know).

Wow, long Author's note is long (yes, I realize what I said). Now, enjoy!

* * *

><p>"Pony, time for school," Soda spoke gently to the petite teen on the bed. He pushed a piece of reddish brown hair from the boy's face, and then started to lightly shake him. The old bed creaked ever so lightly as Ponyboy stirred in his sleep.<p>

"Soda . . . ?" he questioned sluggishly, trying to rub his tired eyes awake. Sodapop smiled softly and mussed up the other's hair. Ponyboy drowsily swatted away at the unwanted arm, glaring at his brother.

"Stop it," Ponyboy mumbled, propping up his elbows against the mattress to help him sit up. The dark blonde helped the younger one stand up, and, just to have fun with his brother, lifted him like a sack of potatoes and began to carry him to the bathroom.

The lift had shocked the sleep out of Pony. Not able to help himself, he began to giggle airily, although he did screech at Soda to put him down. Soda just shook his head, smiling goofily all the while.

"What's going on here?" asked Darry, his deep voice heard above Ponyboy's giggles and shrieks. However, Darry did not sound serious or annoyed – like he usually would be – but playful. Attention from both his brothers was drawn upon him like a moth to a flame.

Soda's smile brightened and grew even more. He heard the teasing tone in Darry's voice, and yelled, "Pony, hold on tight. We must surpass Evil King Darrel, who wishes to imprison you!" And with that, Soda ran away from Darry, clutching onto Ponyboy with all his might. Ponyboy's laughter increased and echoed down the hall as he saw Darry actually chase after them.

After catching up with the two and cornering them in a span of two minutes, Darry had somehow grabbed the green-eyed boy from Soda's tight grasp. He sped off as if his life depended on it, carrying Pony with ease in his muscled arms.

"Hey!" Soda tried to yell angrily, although his smile revealed his true feelings. He ran after both of them, knowing they could not get far if Darry was the one running. Soda had too much energy most of the time, and Pony was the best runner in the family, which left Darry stuck in dead last.

However, Darry had also managed to out speed his other brother, kicking the door to Soda and Ponyboy's bedroom open. The very tall man plopped his youngest brother on the bed and locked the door quickly before Soda could get in.

Darry smirked at Ponyboy, with the latter trying to smile up at him innocently. Unexpectedly, Darry dove on top of the bed and held the smaller one down, running his fingers rapidly up and down the boy's sides.

Soda, who had just arrived outside the bedroom, heard a peculiar noise that sounded like it belonged to Ponyboy. He pounded on the door and attempted to open it, but to no avail.

"Hey!" he yelled, pounding louder and more furiously. "What's going on in there?"

"S-Soda, help!" Ponyboy screamed, his laughter almost overpowering his voice. "He's t-t-tickling m-me!"

Sodapop let out a loud, fake gasp, yelling, "Evil King Darrel, you best take your hands off my kid brother, you hear?"

"Never!" Darry yelled out, tickling Ponyboy even more ferociously. Ponyboy snorted so loudly and so much that he almost choked on his saliva. Finally, after what seemed like an hour, Darry stopped with the tickling. However, he didn't get off of Pony just yet. He smiled down at the flustered almost red head, and kissed him gently on the forehead.

"Happy birthday, baby," whispered Darry. Pony smiled, reaching up to give his older brother a chaste kiss on the cheek. Darry's smile grew wider, and he tightened his arms around Ponyboy in a hug.

"This is my kid brother right here!" Darry called loudly enough so that Soda would hear him. Scooping up Ponyboy in his arms, which elicited a soft giggle from the teen, he opened the door, bracing himself for Soda to slam into him.

But there was no sign of Sodapop.

Darry frowned lightly, wondering where his other younger brother could be. He and Ponyboy shared a look of confusion, both having no idea where he could've gone. Suddenly, there came Soda running, holding a broom in one hand and a bucket on his head, representing a sword and a helmet respectively.

Not able to stop himself, Ponyboy burst out laughing. The youngest one was holding his sides in pain, having laughed enough in one day to supply a whole week's worth of laughter.

"Hand over the boy and no one gets hurt," Soda tried to threaten menacingly, but his chuckles were ruining the overall effect (which was not much, to be honest). Darry cracked a grin at the scene.

"Okay, fine. You've got me cornered." He handed Ponyboy over to Soda, and Darry rolled his eyes when the brown-eyed man started to plant frantic kisses all over Pony's face.

"Pony, my dear, I thought I lost you forever!" cried Soda over dramatically, giving Ponyboy one last sloppy, wet kiss on the forehead. Disgusted, Ponyboy wiped all the spit off his face. Darry let out a low chuckle, ignoring the light glare Soda sent his way.

"Alright, alright, enough of the brotherly love; we've gotta get a move on. You and I've got work, Soda, and Pone gets to start school today," said Darry sternly, giving his brothers a look that meant no more fooling around.

Soda nodded and plopped Ponyboy on the ground. Although the moment Darry left to go cook breakfast, Soda tackled Pony in a bear hug, saying, "Happy birthday!" Pony hugged back, but let go of his elder brother shortly in order to prepare for the rest of the day.

Pony quickly picked out his clothes (it was the first day of school, but it was boiling outside, so he chose a pair of tan shorts and a tight green t-shirt), and went to the bathroom to tidy up. He exited the moment Darry was setting the food on their plates.

Walking over to the kitchen table, Ponyboy felt the eyes of Darry and Soda carefully analyzing over his outfit selection. Lately, they've been doing that, though Pony couldn't think of a fathomable reason why they would. Not only that, but sometimes even the gang would put in their two bits ("Jeez kid, not even someone as skinny as a pencil could fit into those shorts!" or "I don't want to be responsible for you being kidnapped, so put on my damned jacket!").

Soda's eyes slid off him after a short while, which meant that he approved, but Darry's eyes seemed to be heavily trained on Ponyboy's vast amount of uncovered leg.

"Ponyboy, don't you think some longer shorts would be more ideal for school?" Darry asked skeptically, his eyes still frozen on the same spot, not wavering even in the slightest bit.

Ponyboy frowned prominently, making his irritation of the topic very obvious. He crossed his hands over his chest. "Darry, the school doesn't care about what we wear! Also, these shorts aren't even that short!"

"They're barely mid-thigh," Darry said without missing a beat, laying out a few hard-boiled eggs and a sliver of chocolate cake on Ponyboy's dull-colored plate. He then placed the pot in the sink carefully, trying not to hit the other equally as dull plates already in there.

Soda's frown almost matched Pony's, except his was less pronounced. "Darry, just let him go. It's the end of summer – which means no more clothing like that for a long time – and it's his birthday. Let him have it."

"Fine," replied Darry after a few seconds of silence. He then immediately turned his attention to Ponyboy and said, "But no more clothes like that for a while. Savvy?"

The petite teen nodded, although his mind was fogged with perplexing thoughts. No more clothes _like that _for a while? What? What were Darry and Soda talking up, clothes like that?

"Hello, Curtis brothers!" _Ah, perfect timing, Two-Bit, _thought Ponyboy sarcastically, _He'll probably say something about my clothes, too. God forbid he brought Steve – or even Dally – with him. _

Unfortunately, luck must not be on Ponyboy's side today, because not only did Steve come in, so did Dally. Two-Bit was the worst offender of teasing his clothes, but sometimes Dally or Steve would put in their input (which was when Pony would take a serious look at his wardrobe, especially if Steve said it).

"Happy birthday, kiddo!" Two-Bit called out, messing up Ponyboy's hair, which made the latter shoot an annoyed look at the always joking man. The moment he stood up to put his plate in the sink, however, Two-Bit let out a long whistle and stared at his body.

"Shoot, maybe I should rethink the 'kiddo' part," muttered Two-Bit a little too loudly, causing Steve to roll his eyes, Dally to let out a low, yet almost inaudible, growl, and Darry and Soda to glare heatedly at him. Ponyboy blushed.

A beat of awkward silence surrounded the kitchen, where no one knew exactly what to say after Two-Bit's absolutely delightful comment. At least, that was before Steve broke it.

"Well, anyways, happy birthday to you," Steve said nonchalantly, barely sparing a glance at Ponyboy, "but we've gotta get a move on." He gestured toward Darry and Soda for that last part, earning him a bamboozled look from his best friend.

"I thought you usually went to school on the first day, Steve?" Ponyboy asked for Soda, expressing a similar confused look as his blonde brother. Steve would sometimes go to work at the DX on school days, but he would often save work for the weekend. Ponyboy had never particularly questioned the other greaser about this, but Pony would assume that Steve just didn't want to go to school that day.

Steve rolled his eyes impatiently at the younger male, although the look from Darry daring him to roll his eyes at his brother _just one more time _set him straight, reminding him to actually respond to Ponyboy's question. "I just don't feel like going today," replied Steve lamely and a little too quickly.

Whipping his head around as fast as a cheetah could run, Soda gave Steve a mien that clearly said _'we'll talk later.' _Steve sighed softly when he thought no one was watching.

"Two-Bit, you giving Pone a ride to school today?" Darry asked, quickly changing the topic as he addressed the facetious greaser. At the same time, Soda reassured a hesitant Ponyboy that he'll wash the dishes this morning.

Two-Bit cringed, letting out a tsk sound. "Yeah, about that, Dar . . ." he trailed off, not looking at Darry as said man gave him a hard look, "I finally took the car in to get the brakes fixed, and it won't be back until tomorrow . . . I was planning to ditch school today."

Taking his attention off Two-Bit, Darry bestowed a worried gaze on Ponyboy, eyeing the rather showy outfit. Steve and Two-Bit shared a look. Dally glanced at Pony's outfit, and then at the floor. Soda gave Ponyboy a look like Darry's too, and Pony wondered what the big fuss was about. His brothers hadn't really cared if he walked to school alone before, but ever since that incident . . . Well, it had all really started a few months ago when Johnny and he had went shopping for summer wear, and some strange men had been flirting with him. Soda and Darry had hit the roof when Johnny had told them, and they never left Ponyboy alone for one minute since.

Ponyboy shrugged, displaying that it was no big deal to walk by his lonesome to school. "It's just school," the green-eyed teen said simply, his big eyes all wide and innocent, "I'll be fine."

Darry immediately shook his head, rejecting the idea as soon as it was said. "Where's Johnny when you need him?" he muttered, and then he gained a glazed look over his eyes as he tried to think of a plan. Another beat of silence passed.

"I'll take him," offered Dally coolly, lifting his eyes to find Darry's own ice blue-green eyes boring a hole into his skull. "I'll only be able to walk him half way since there's a party on the way, but that's better than nothing."

Nodding slowly and comprehendingly, Darry reluctantly said, ". . . Fine. I suppose that's better than Pony walking by himself." Then the oldest Curtis brother turned to Ponyboy, sternly adding; "Now you be careful out there, alright? No dilly-dallying, and remember, if someone tries to harm you, you shout as loud as you can and run away from them."

A feeling of uselessness and frustration was burning inside of Ponyboy by now, but he nodded at Darry anyway. God, couldn't the gang understand he wasn't a freaking baby anymore? He could walk himself to school if he wanted to without someone watching him like a hawk the entire time. He wanted to rip his precious hair out in anger.

"We'll see you later then," Dally said, pushing Ponyboy out the door a little bit too eagerly. The latter let out a wave at the others, and saw Two-Bit and Soda wave back eagerly, Darry give a short wave, and Steve doing nothing (must've been rolling his eyes again).

Dally wrapped a tight arm around Pony's shoulder as they hit the more busy streets. Quite a few people looked up at them, and Ponyboy uneasily noticed that many of them stared at him as they passed by. A few guys had bumped into the teen, but Dally, his face turning red every time one would do that, cussed each one out like no tomorrow.

"Dally," whispered Ponyboy very quietly, looking around nervously. The man in question snapped his head around to look at the anxious teen, wrapping his arm around the petite red head even tighter, "why do people keep looking at us?" he continued, his green eyes big.

The blue-eyed man muttered something unintelligible under his breath, not answering Ponyboy's question. However, Pony stayed silent, not repeating his question in order to not anger the man. He already seemed volatile; glaring at people who would dare look at the general direction that Ponyboy was in.

When they were in close range of the house where the party was being thrown at, Dally looked at Ponyboy sternly in the eye, saying, "Listen, Ponyboy, if there are any . . . complications on the rest of the way, run, don't walk, _run_, back here and get me _immediately. _And remember," he then leant down, whispering, "just tell 'em you know a dangerous hood known to beat the tar out of people who mess with you. And, um, I guess you should always know that you can tell me anything." He rubbed the back of his neck rather sheepishly at the last part.

Ponyboy nodded staidly, not understanding what Dally meant by complications, but he guessed that he would surely know if he was stuck in any 'complications.' "Okay," he easily said, stopping at the house with the music so loud that it was only a wonder the police haven't shown up yet.

Dally rolled his eyes, with Pony just looking at him curiously as he did that. He would never truly understand Dallas Winston, even if he, Johnny, and his own self have formed a little friendship pack over the summer – not that Dally would ever admit that to anyone else, though. Ponyboy began to head in the direction of his school, not seeing any reason as to why he would linger in front of the house.

"Wait, Pony," called out Dally, not yelling or bothering to go after the younger teen, just standing there. Ponyboy looked back at him, stopping in his tracks. "Happy birthday," Dallas said rather coolly, but he said them in a kinder tone than most things he'd say.

Pony grinned, his eyes twinkling as he waved once, and then he continued to walk toward his school. However, he hadn't seen the tiny hand wave he had received back.

As Ponyboy walked closer to his school, he felt more and more eyes watching him from afar. No one had touched or even bumped into him (which was great, but Ponyboy had found it odd that people had run into him with _Dally, _of all people, hanging around him). But that all changed when Ponyboy noticed a Soc car tailing him.

_Oh no, _thought Pony, his palms suddenly sweating up a storm. He kept wiping them on his shorts and shirt, but it didn't alleviate the problem. He looked back nervously, but the blue Mustang was still tagging along beside him.

When the window of the car rolled down, Ponyboy swore under his breath. He crossed his arms across his chest, trying to make it look like he could care less about them following him, but in actuality, he did that to calm his nerves.

"Greaser!" one of the Socs bellowed out in his loud, obnoxious voice. However, instead of the usual insults, Pony heard catcalls and whistles from the car. He furiously blushed, wrapping his arms around him tighter, not sure if them doing that was a good or bad sign.

"Hey, how'd you like it if we drove you to school?" asked the blonde Soc from the window. Ponyboy ignored him, finding the sidewalk very interesting at the moment. He quickened his speed a bit. The Socs, unfortunately, had noticed this.

"Aw, don't be like that, baby," another Soc had called out, but Ponyboy still refused to acknowledge their presence. He sped up again, but the blue Mustang went faster as well to catch up to the small teen.

"Looks like we've got a feisty one, fellows." Pony didn't even need to turn around to see the smug smirk the man had on his face; he had felt it in his voice. There were more cheers from inside the car.

When Ponyboy hadn't responded, the Socs became quiet for a few minutes, just talking amongst themselves on what to do now. But they still didn't leave him alone, which frustrated and scared Ponyboy to no end.

"Come on, babe," Ponyboy heard a different voice from the car, this one more calm than the other two from before, "you know you want to get in here with us."

Ponyboy shivered at the suggestive tone in his voice, and wrapped his arms around him even tighter. As expected, the catcalls and whistles were also louder. There was some commotion going on inside the car. _Probably all the Socs giving him a pat on the back for making me more uncomfortable, _thought Ponyboy bitterly, a frown placed on his gentle features.

When Ponyboy saw the school in all its glory, from the freshly cut green grass to the old blue paint that was peeling off, he sprinted the rest of the way, losing the Socs as he weaved between the groups of students on the yard. He wiped off some sweat from his brow, never feeling his heart race more than right now, which may or may not have been from the running.

He entered the school, getting ready for his first class of the day. Ponyboy, as he took what he needed from his backpack and locker, soon found himself deep in thought.

_My birthday so far has not been so great, _Ponyboy thought sadly, _I mean, the only good thing that happened was when Darry and Soda had messed around with me earlier. Then Darry and all the others had to ruin it a bit when they mentioned my clothing and not being able to walk to school alone . . . and then those bothersome Socs arrived. Wait . . . I hadn't gotten a good look at them earlier, I won't be able to recognize them! What if they attack me later, or make fun of my clothes some more? Oh God, oh God, I have to walk home with Johnny today. Hmm, I haven't seen Johnny all day yet. I really hope he came to school. Besides, he's my best buddy. I'd be sad if he didn't come to school, even without the Socs screwing with me. _

Then, Ponyboy snapped out of his thoughts when he realized that he had only a few minutes to get to first period, which was on the opposite side of the school. He cursed his bad luck and quickly set out to reach his class. Excellent, he'd make such a great impression on his new teacher for being late. And, to make it worse, his first subject was Math, which he had never been so hot in.

He didn't know how he did it, but Ponyboy had somehow managed to reach the class a few seconds before the bell rang. With his breath coming out in short gasps, he sat in the chair closest by him, not caring where he was sitting. That may not have been the brightest decision, though.

The teacher, who had introduced himself as Mr. Dinu, was a Romanian immigrant with a very thick accent. Mr. Dinu said that this was going to be an excellent year, and he immediately gave the class a worksheet to practice their Mathematics from the year before.

Ponyboy groaned quietly at the prospect of being handed a worksheet already. To make it worse, their teacher had a thick accent, which made this class a whole lot harder for him since he could barely understand Math, let alone his teacher. Damn it.

The person from behind poked him with a pencil. He resisted the urge to snap at them, but turned around to see what they could possibly want. Ponyboy looked to see dark piercing eyes staring right at him.

"Hey grease," he whispered into Pony's ear, tickling it with his icy breath. Ponyboy turned around as quick as lightning. He didn't want the teacher to catch him talking to this Soc, and maybe because he was so startled by the other's expression that he didn't want to look at him.

"Y'know, I heard about the car incident. My buddies really didn't appreciate it when you hadn't responded to them. I'll let it slide, but only because you're smoking, for a greaser, and because I'm feeling particularly nice today," the dark haired man said, and Ponyboy felt an unwelcomed visitor stroking his bare leg. He shivered.

"Get your dirty paws off me, you Soc," Ponyboy bravely shot right back at him. He blinked once, having no idea where that courage had come from. The churlish teen took his sweet time taking his hand off the almost red head, chuckling all the while.

"I like you, babe," he whispered, tickling Ponyboy's ear even more. That was when the conversation ended, and Pony instantly set to work on the worksheet, scooting as far away as he could from the other.

Soon enough, the class ended, and the next class passed, and the next, and the next . . . But Ponyboy still couldn't shake the Soc's voice from before out of his head. Not only that, but many people in his other classes seemed to have taken a liking to him, too. Not just the Socs, though, there were also greasers and the middle class hitting on him. Although, the greasers usually let him be, since most knew of his two older brothers. Funnily enough, there seemed to be a lot more _boys _making flirtatious comments and inappropriate gestures at him than girls. One daring boy in particular had even tugged at the bottom of his shorts, but only to have his hand slapped away by an embarrassed Ponyboy.

_Boy, Soda and Darry both would've exploded if they saw all this 'attention' the boys are giving me, _Ponyboy had thought after the teen from earlier left with a reddened hand, and quite a lot of the students (cough boys cough) giving him either praise or threats.

Pony had exited that class with a very red blush coating his cheeks after some more teenagers tried their luck with the almost red head. Two had flirted with him (but Ponyboy hadn't even realized it, and had rejected them rather harshly on complete accident), but one had smacked Ponyboy after he had leant down to pick up his books. Luckily, the teacher had seen that and had angrily sent the boy to the office, shouting various things at him, like how he could get suspended for sexual harassment and how in all her years of teaching, she had never seen a student do something like that. The class had then turned to look at Ponyboy, who could've just died of humiliation.

Around lunchtime, Ponyboy had finally spotted Johnny. He was very easy to spot with his dark tanned skin, extremely greasy black hair, and a new purple bruise adorning his facial features. Ponyboy sat down next time, Johnny looking up at him and staring at his face, then to his outfit.

"Happy birthday . . . wow," said Johnny dumbly, watching Ponyboy in such awe that said teen blushed heavily for the millionth time that day, "Ponyboy, you look . . . wow."

"Thanks," Ponyboy spoke gently, embarrassed that even _Johnny, _the quietest boy from the gang, had said something even remotely related about his outfit. Ponyboy sure felt complemented.

There was some silence as the two munched on their food, although Pony sadly noticed that all Johnny had was some crackers. He offered some of his lunch, but Johnny had politely refused.

"So, how'd your brothers, or even the rest of the gang, let you go out like that?" asked Johnny, his voice naturally being barely above a whisper. However, he was more comfortable around Dally and Ponyboy, especially the latter, so he spoke more freely around the two.

Ponyboy shrugged, frowning at the memory. "Darry told me to go put on some different shorts, but Soda let me go out like this. And Two-Bit said somethin' real funny, not in the hilarious way, but in the weird way. Then Dally had to walk me half way to school because no one else could drive me. I mean, jeez, I'm not a baby! I can walk and dress the way I please, so I don't know why they keep worrying about me! This outfit is not even that bad; I've worn worse!"

After Ponyboy's outburst, Johnny calmly explained, "Ponyboy, firstly, the outfit, while you are right, it's not as bad as other ones you've worn, really makes your eyes stick out and your legs look real long, which makes you even better-looking than you normally are. Your brothers and the gang worry about you 'cause you're extremely beautiful and the youngest. If somethin' were to happen to you, golly, I don't know how'd we all get along. 'Sides, there's always one or two people that everyone frets over." Johnny let out a shy half smile at the last sentence, and Ponyboy grinned sweetly back at him.

"Aw shucks, Johnnycakes, did you know that you're my most favorite out of the gang?" asked Ponyboy, slinging an arm around Johnny in a half hug. He snuggled his head into the crook between Johnny's shoulder and neck, and the only reason the black-eyed teen wasn't blushing was because of his tan.

But then Johnny received many glares and jealous looks, so he shook Pony gently off of his shoulder. At Ponyboy's hurt expression, Johnny almost hit himself for his stupidity.

"Uh, this food isn't going to eat itself, you know," said Johnny rather lamely, barely coming up with an excuse. Pony looked at him with narrowed eyes for a second before shrugging. Whatever was Johnny's problem, he'd probably tell him later.

"You want to walk home together?" asked Ponyboy after a few minutes of just chewing on food.

Johnny nodded slowly, taking his time as he ate each cracker one by one. Ponyboy felt bad, but no matter how many times he insisted that Johnny take some of his lunch, the teen always refused. Ponyboy almost cussed at his best buddy to take some of his goddamned food already, but the bell rang, signaling that lunch was over.

"I'll meet you by the old tree out front," Johnny told him, throwing out the empty bag of crackers. Ponyboy nodded, both of them splitting up to finish the rest of their classes.

The rest of the day was uneventful, although some Socs were making a myriad of perverted and inappropriate comments at him. Ponyboy's ears grew very hot, his face following suit. He would've much rather liked it if the Socs ostracized him, but they gave him so much attention that Ponyboy might've well as been a celebrity.

And when the last bell of the day rang, Ponyboy was so happy and relieved he almost forgot to stop by his locker to retrieve his books. He remembered, luckily enough, and stuffed whatever he needed, ready to high tail it out of there.

But someone blocked him.

"Hey, hey, hey, what do we have here?" The Soc breathed down his ear, pushing him into the locker harshly. Ponyboy was so shocked he almost dropped his backpack, gaping widely as he felt the other press himself tight against the teen.

"Get off!" shouted Ponyboy in desperation and panic, shoving the man hard enough that he fell to the floor. His eyes were huge and he ran to another part of the school, not fit enough to go outside and meet Johnny yet. Ponyboy stood, breathing heavily and trying not to bawl his eyes out.

_Okay, okay, calm down, Ponyboy. He's not going to hurt you anymore, _Pony thought, leaning against some lockers. He wiped some tears that were threatening to fall, but he soon began walking when his heart rate slowed down.

He was calm when he walked out and met Johnny by the old tree. They walked home together, Johnny at an almost leisurely pace and Ponyboy ready to sprint at any moment, chatting about all kinds of things. However, Ponyboy never mentioned his harassers. Not even once.

Johnny was observant, though. He noticed that Ponyboy was very jumpy and eager looking to return home to the gang. The beautiful teenager also wouldn't stop blabbering on about how happy he was that it was his birthday, and that he knew Soda and Darry got him a double chocolate cake (his favorite), although he shouldn't know.

Johnny said nothing, thinking that Ponyboy would burst eventually. The dark teen watched Pony warily, wondering what was wrong with the younger one. Ponyboy didn't see Johnny staring at him like that, just blabbering on and on about random things.

"And then, this kid in school came behind me, and he-" Ponyboy stopped yapping at that point, almost spilling it about all the harassment in school. His face grew hot as Johnny looked at him oddly. Ponyboy prayed, hoping that his companion didn't notice what he said.

"Ponyboy, are you alright? You've been talkin' real fast, and then you just stop out of the blue," Johnny asked solicitously, his gaze soft as he met Ponyboy's slightly too wide eyes. He rested a hand on Pony's shoulder comfortingly, but the red head had to beg himself not to flinch at the touch.

"I'm fine. I forgot what I was saying earlier so I stopped talkin'. Guess I paused a bit too quickly," lied Ponyboy smoothly, appearing to look sheepish. Johnny half smiled, fooled by Ponyboy's acting.

The two were right by the Curtis household by then, and Ponyboy sadly noted that Darry's truck wasn't parked in the drive way. He hadn't come home early to celebrate his birthday? Although Ponyboy knew that he was being unreasonable and that Darry could not leave early all the time, it still hurt a bit.

"Happy birthday!" a group of very familiar voices chorused together, and before Pony knew it, he had a handful of Sodapop in his arms. Soda wrapped his arms around the younger one's petite waist, tightening his hold as he smothered Ponyboy in wet kisses. Ponyboy gasped, remembering what the Soc had done earlier, but held in the urge to shove Soda off. If he did anything, they'd know.

Ponyboy heard Two-Bit laughing as Soda almost tipped them over. He blushed for what seemed like the millionth time that day, and tried to detach himself from his older brother's constricting grip. Keyword: tried.

"Sodapop, you're going to choke him," said Darry sternly, but his voice seemed to have a light humorous tone. Ponyboy was shocked to hear him. Where was his truck?

Soda eventually dropped Ponyboy (finally letting him breathe!) and grinned at Darry. "Sorry, I just can't believe my baby brother's fifteen now!" exclaimed the blonde as he feigned sadness, wiping off fake tears from his eyes.

Darry shoved Soda playfully, rolling his eyes as he headed to Ponyboy. Then he took his turn embracing the youngest brother, holding him a bit awkwardly due to such a dramatic height difference between them, but Pony didn't mind. Even if he really didn't want to be touched now, he was just happy that his eldest brother was home.

"Darry?" asked Ponyboy, his voice muffled due to being cuddled against his eldest brother's chest. Darry looked down at him, gesturing for him to continue. "Where's your truck?"

"The truck just needed some oil changes. I took it to the DX and Steve said he'll fix it right up for me. Isn't that right, Steve?" explained Darry, and he let go of Ponyboy, turning back to look at the greaser with complicated hair.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Steve said busily, but nodded briskly at him anyway. He then became engrossed to Two-Bit's rambling about some greaser fighting off five Socs with a coat hanger.

Dally rolled his eyes at the obviously made up story. The blonde haired greaser walked to Ponyboy and ruffled his hair affectionately. Pouting, Ponyboy attempted to fix his hair to the perfection it was in before.

"Hey, Pone, why don't you open up your presents? And then we can have cake afterwards!" Soda said excitedly, bouncing up and down as if he was five instead of seventeen.

"It's your favorite: double chocolate!" blurted out Two-Bit, unable to control himself. Everyone groaned loudly at the revelation, although Ponyboy had already known. Dally actually slapped the back of Two-Bit's head lightly.

"That's it, we're never telling you anything ever again!" decreed Steve, and many of the gang members agreed in unison. However, the man with the rusty colored sideburns frowned, proclaiming that this was the first time he had ever told a secret. Steve retaliated back, and the two continued to bicker to the point that it turned into a brawl.

Ponyboy ignored them as Soda enthusiastically shoved the first present in his arms. He heard Darry threaten to kick Steve and Two-Bit out if they didn't stop, which, of course, instantly made them halt. Dally smirked at the scene, but then turned his full attention back to Ponyboy. Johnny sat on the sofa, watching shyly as his best buddy unwrapped his gift.

Ah, how Ponyboy had missed his little family.

* * *

><p>After a very successful gift exchange and a less successful cake cutting time (it had turned into a food fight after Two-Bit had continuously picked on both Johnny and Ponyboy [cough clothing selection cough], causing a steaming Dally to throw his cake at him), Ponyboy was exhausted and decided to go to bed. He bid good night to the gang, and left for his and Soda's room.<p>

Ponyboy changed into his pajamas, yawning and rubbing his eyes a few times, and went in the bathroom to do his routine. Quickly enough, Ponyboy finished and entered the bedroom, where he already found a sprawled out Soda on the bed.

"Ponyboy," Soda said when Ponyboy was tucked securely and safely in the bed next to his brother. The blonde swung an arm around Ponyboy's waist, drawing him close, "I-I can't believe you, my little baby brother, are fifteen."

The green-eyed teen nodded, his eyelids heavy and looking like he was going to be knocked out cold in a few minutes. He hoped Sodapop wouldn't talk too much.

"Okay, Ponyboy I actually have somethin' serious to talk to you about. Pone, you're fifteen years old and in the middle of your teen years. You're hitting puberty . . . but not in the way 'normal' boys do. Me and Dar, we thought you were gonna to end up tall and have some big muscles on you. But Pony, you're like mom. You're short and petite, but you've got a few muscles on you. Pone, we also noticed that you're not toughening up like the other guys, but instead you've got some . . . curves on you. It doesn't matter, I'm trying to tell you, and you should never compare yourself to other boys, alright? Don't feel insecure about your body. And could you tone it down on the wardrobe a bit? I swear Darry almost had a heart attack today with what you were wearing, and that you had to walk with _Dallas Winston_ only half way to school. Wouldn't stop talking about it the whole drive to work," explained Soda, chuckling a bit. He turned to look at Ponyboy, but the kid was out like a light. Huh. So _that _was why he wasn't talking . . .

Soda sighed, a bit disappointed. He really wanted to tell Ponyboy about this, since he knew that Pony was never going to fill up with muscles or be tall. His kid brother actually has some curves, if that was even possible. But he absolutely had to tell Ponyboy about this, because he knew how gorgeous his brother is, and how 'popular' he'll be, especially with the guys . . . It better not have happened already, though, 'cause Soda would have to go hunting soon.

He really wished it won't happen.

But he knows it will.

* * *

><p>Whoa! This chapter's huge. Whoops, didn't mean for it to be that long.<p>

I just wanted to say that I have no idea when Ponyboy's birthday is, so I just made it on the day kids go back to school.

Muahahaha, you'll all have to wait until next chapter to see if Ponyboy's problem escalates. Any of you guys guessing on what the slash couple will be? Sadly, you'll have to wait for that too . . . but for quite a long time. I'm so cruel to my readers.

Well, anyways, I hope you guys liked it!

~Aly208


	2. Gradually

Update time!

I just wanted to say that you guys are awesome. Thank you for all the reviews, alerts, favorites, and for everyone reading this right now! Believe me when I say how surprised I am.

Also, in my Author's Note last chapter, I said there won't be cute over protectiveness. Oops, I meant to say there won't be _much _of the cute way! There will be some cute over protectiveness, not a lot, but there also will be a lot of super over protectiveness.

Now, let's see what happens to Ponyboy!

* * *

><p>Over the course of the next few days, Ponyboy's harassment problem gradually increased. He was less lenient about going to school, and it was harder for him to get out of bed in the morning. Of course, Ponyboy had not told anyone about this, as much as his brothers and the gang might prod and pry.<p>

So, his harassment chart looked like this:

Tuesday – The same Socs followed him to school again, coaxing him to get in the car. During Math, the Soc behind him had whispered dirty things in his ear. In English, a middle class student had groped him from behind. More students had tried their luck with the teen, but Ponyboy had crushed their spirits (he had rejected only one on purpose out of three).

Wednesday – Ponyboy had been driven by Two-Bit, so no Socs with blue Mustangs that day. However, the Soc in Math class still said inappropriate things, but also decided that he couldn't keep his hands to himself. Two greasers had apparently thought it'd be funny to continuously slither their arms around him. A middle class student had tried to lift his shirt up. A Soc girl wouldn't stop talking to him, and every time he had tried to leave, she had held his arm in an iron tight grasp.

To say that Ponyboy was tired of this was the understatement of the month.

Currently, though, Ponyboy was eating breakfast (an unnaturally red colored omelet), thinking of ways to reduce his little problem. There was no way he'd tell the gang, they'd all probably explode. Tell a teacher? Hmm, no. It'd put him in too much spot light, never mind the fact that he didn't know many of his harassers' names, and that new ones would appear every day.

"Hello? Earth to Ponyboy!" said Sodapop, nudging his younger brother on the arm. Ponyboy blinked, startled out of his thoughts. He glanced up at Soda, looking at him with puzzlement and mild annoyance.

"What?" he asked, his tone mainly confused, yet it held an undertone of irritation. Ponyboy frowned as he rubbed his arm; he had definitely not appreciated that punch. He signaled for Soda to go on, but Two-Bit interrupted.

"Gettin' an attitude, huh, Ponyboy?" asked the tall man jokingly, cocking an eyebrow at the almost red head. Ponyboy had a sudden urge to throw his omelet at Two-Bit, but he knew that Darry would yell at him, so he just settled for glaring at him. Two-Bit, as much as Ponyboy loved him, was rankling him a lot.

Actually, Ponyboy had noticed that Two-Bit has been enthusiastic to tease him recently. The youngest of the gang had a hunch that Two-Bit's been picking on him because he found Ponyboy turning into a teenager hilarious. Whether it was because of his choice of clothing or his attitude lately, he'd never know.

"No," Ponyboy replied curtly and flatly, focusing his gaze on Soda, who was frowning and waiting patiently for his turn to speak. "What were you gonna say, Soda?" he asked kindly.

The usually jaunty man looked down at his plate and moved his food around awkwardly. Soda blatantly avoided eye contact. "Oh, uh, nothin'. I was just askin' if you were okay."

Ponyboy nodded at Soda, but then furrowed his eyebrows. Why would Soda question if he was okay and then not look at him? Was he that obvious? He must be if his brother had to ask him about it.

"Hey," said the usual stoical Dally, walking into the kitchen with his hands placed in his jean pockets. When Ponyboy stood to wash the dishes, Dally's eyes scanned over the younger teen's selection (a blue t-shirt and khaki shorts). He then nodded once, as if to say he approved.

The green-eyed teen frowned lightly, not liking it that _Dallas Winston, _who was the most apathetic out of the gang, felt like he had to voice his opinions about Pony's clothing. No, Ponyboy did not like that at all.

"Kiddo, I'm drivin' you to school today," said Two-Bit, who was happily chomping on his piece of chocolate cake. He then averted his gray eyes from the cake to meet Ponyboy's green-gray eyes. In an attempt of humor, he winked seductively at him. The younger teen tensed for a second, and then relaxed when he remembered it was only Two-Bit.

Luckily (for Two-Bit), the only one who saw that was Steve, who in turn stared at the nineteen year old with disgust, but then rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath things like, "Pedophile" and "Weird sense of humor."

Two-Bit grinned cheekily, sticking out his tongue childishly at the lean and tall greaser. "You're just jealous of my braveness, Stevie. Not many would do that with the you-know-whos around here," he stated, gesturing to Darry, Soda, and Dally.

Steve scoffed at the same time everyone else looked at Two-Bit like he was crazy, or, in Ponyboy's situation, he blushed and had to refrain himself from smacking the stocky greaser.

"What're you talkin' about?" asked Darry, although the way he spoke it sounded like it wasn't a question. His unimpressed and blank facial expression also helped portray that role.

"Nothin'," Two-Bit and Steve said too quickly in unison. Dally shot them a look that said 'likely story' while Darry remained with his poker-face and Soda with his perplexed look.

Ponyboy, who just about finished washing the dishes, took one short glance at the clock and hurriedly said, "Two-Bit, come on, we're gonna be late." He threw the dishrag in the sink and snatched his backpack, purposely jostling into Two-Bit when the older man made no indication he was getting up any time soon.

"Alright, alright, hold your horses, Pony," said the rusty hair colored man, getting up from his chair rather slowly and stretching languidly. He then let out a snigger. "Get it? Pony, horses . . ."

The almost red head pursed his lips, sighing and impatiently tapping his foot on the wooden floor. Two-Bit (and just about everyone he's met) has said that over a million times. Although, the nineteen year old found out that the more he says it, the more hilarious it becomes. Well, at least for him, anyway. Ponyboy was just sick of that joke and of Two-Bit's constant banter.

"Two-Bit, if my kid brother's late to school 'cause of you, I'll skin you," said Darry, eyeing Two-Bit disapprovingly. When Two-Bit appeared unaffected by this news, Darry instead said rather slyly, "Or maybe I'll just throw away all the beer . . ."

Two-Bit's eyes widened at this and he pushed Ponyboy roughly and swiftly out the door. "You win this time, Superman!" he called out when he and Ponyboy had exited the house.

"Bye!" shouted Ponyboy, and he immediately heard varied voices yell back at him, ranging from, "Have a good day!" to "If someone's pickin' on you, just tell me and I'll beat the tar out of 'em!"

"Ponyboy, if they get anymore protective of you, they'll be askin' you to carry a rape whistle," joked Two-Bit, chuckling at Pony's annoyed expression as they both piled up in the elder man's car.

They were silent for awhile until Two-Bit took one glance at the younger teen and nervously said, ". . . Pony? Am I pissin' you off?"

Ponyboy sighed, looking at his backpack and anything but the other greaser. "Two-Bit, you know I love you like a brother, but lately, I've been the butt of your jokes, or you always seem to be makin' fun of me or my clothes. I-I don't feel so hot when you do that . . ." he trailed off, wiping his eyes with his hands. He was _not _going to cry, damn it! Glory, how Ponyboy hated all the unstable emotions that came with being a teenager.

Two-Bit looked down at the almost red head sadly, feeling guilty on the inside (a rare emotion for him). His eyes immediately softened when he heard some sniffling coming from Ponyboy. "Pony, I'm real sorry. Baby, please don't cry . . . or everyone'll beat me 'til I'm unconscious. Even Steve," he said, letting out one small chuckle at the last part.

Ponyboy let out a shaky breath, smiling a bit in despite of his very watery eyes. A tear slipped down his face, but the oldest man in the car caught it, wiping it away gently (although he really should be keeping his eyes on the road at all times).

"You alright, sweetheart? I ain't ever gonna do that again. Well, or at least do it much. Next time tell me right away if somethin' bothers you, okay? I promise I don't bite," spoke Two-Bit, smiling tenderly. Ponyboy nodded, knowing that the other greaser never used pet names like that, unless he was teasing someone or feeling sincerely apologetic.

Soon after that, the two reached the school building. Two-Bit, who first parked the car, leaned over his seat to gingerly place a short kiss on Ponyboy's brow. Ponyboy turned a million shades of red as Two-Bit blushed a light pink. Hardly anyone besides his brothers ever kisses him, and even Darry doing that was rather rare.

"So, we should get going or we're gonna be late," said Two-Bit, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck and looking at anything but Ponyboy. The petite teen cocked an eyebrow that would've made Two-Bit proud – if the greaser bothered to glance at him, you know.

"Ain't you that same man from before who was takin' it easy like there was no tomorrow?" asked Ponyboy teasingly, smiling wryly with a small twinkle in his green eyes.

Two-Bit smirked, catching the joke. "That was before Darry threatened to take away my beer, man! That stuff is my life's callin'; I can't live without it," he joked, but then turned around and said, "We've seriously gotta get a move on, 'cause I'm bettin' takin' my beer away ain't gonna be the only thing Superman's gonna do when he finds out I made you late."

"Fine," Ponyboy agreed, stepping out of the incredibly filthy and old car. He didn't know why Two-Bit kept this car around, because he knew for sure that the greaser could definitely afford another car, one better than this heap of junk.

Ponyboy was startled out of his thoughts when he heard a wolf whistle come from nearby. He abruptly froze, scared out of his wits that the whistle was meant for him, and that Two-Bit would find about his harassers.

Two-Bit, on the other hand, smiled brightly when he heard the whistle. He looked around, trying to find out who blew the whistle and who the pretty broad was. However, he saw no broads and the only ones around were a group of male Socs that were quite a bit away from them.

"Did you hear that?" asked Two-Bit, looking at Ponyboy confusedly. The only reason he didn't see Ponyboy stiffen was because he was too busy looking around for whoever had committed the whistle.

"No," said Ponyboy coldly and quickly. That whistle was for him, he just knew it. There was no one else by them, and there was a group of Socs rather close by who looked eerily familiar.

Two-Bit shrugged after Ponyboy's response, giving up searching. If Ponyboy hadn't heard anything, then probably there was nothing. That kid had better hearing than he did and he was credible. Unfortunately, Two-Bit doesn't know of Pony's knack for lying.

The two walked into the school, both splitting up to go to their respective classes. As the day passed on, however, Ponyboy found himself yet again holding everyone's attention. The Soc in Math (he still has no idea what his name is) was talking dirty, groping him from behind every once in awhile. In science, this group of middle class girls was obviously gossiping about him, seeing that they would look up at him and giggle, as well as continually mention his name. Some greasy boys had wolf whistled him in the halls. Three middle class boys had sat by him at lunch (Johnny hadn't been there, causing Ponyboy to fret over where he was), not going away not matter how much Pony had begged. A Soc had slapped him from behind during English, and another one had tugged on the bottom of his shorts.

When the end of the day had finally arrived, Ponyboy had been so relieved that he could've just fainted right there and then. He had grabbed all he needed from his locker, and as he headed toward the front of the school, he wondered when all of this attention was going to blow over. Ponyboy had reached about half of the school's lawn, just daydreaming, before he bumped into someone unexpectedly.

"Sor-" His apology was cut off half way when whomever he had bumped into slithered their arms tightly around Ponyboy's petite waist, resting directly above his derrière.

"Hello again," the man whispered into Pony's ear. Ponyboy was beyond shocked and scared. This voice, it was very familiar . . . Oh, lordy, it was that Soc, the same one who he had ran into before!

Fear and terror coursed through Ponyboy. He was frozen; he couldn't speak or move or do anything he was so frightened. He was exactly like a deer caught in the headlights. And Ponyboy didn't like it, not one teeny tiny bit.

"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" the Soc breathed down Pony's neck, chuckling dryly. His arms slowly slid down until they provocatively rested on the small greaser's bottom, squeezing lightly.

The move had startled Ponyboy out of his stupor. He realized that if he didn't do anything any time soon, this Soc would . . . Golly, he doesn't even know what this man would do.

"HELP!" shouted Ponyboy suddenly, his eyes huge and terrified as he tried to push the Soc off him in desperation, but to no avail as he soon saw that this man was much bigger and stronger than him. He called out again, "Soda, Darry, anyone, HELP!"

"Shut the hell up, kid!" the Soc yelled out, using one hand to cover up Pony's mouth and the other to hold Pony tightly against him. But Ponyboy was a fighter. He thrashed around in this man's grip, trying to bite the hand that was stopping him from calling out for help.

"I told you to SHUT UP!" the man yelled once more, and he was so sick and tired of this greaser that he actually slapped Ponyboy roughly on the cheek. Pony was hit so harshly that he fell down on the ground, holding his cheek in pain. He looked up at the man in terror and trepidation.

Tears soon began to trickle down Ponyboy's face, starting from his eyes, to his red cheeks, and dying at his full lips. He begged himself not to cry, not to cry in front of _him. _The Soc then snatched Ponyboy from the ground, either not noticing or caring about Pony's tears. He forced Ponyboy to stand upright, continuing to kiss and grope him, as Pony did nothing to stop him.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?" boomed an incredibly familiar and safe voice that Ponyboy had yearned to hear. He looked up through his wet lashes, seeing an extremely red faced and furious Dallas Winston clenching his fists tightly.

The Soc turned around from the almost red head, looking at Dally in a combination of annoyance and . . . fear? Before the man could say anything, Dally had already swung his fist, punching him straight in the nose. He repeatedly punched the Soc a few more times before stopping, finally remembering that Ponyboy was here. He roughly pulled the boy closely to him and sped off with Pony as quick as lightning.

They didn't stop sprinting until they reached Dally's ride (an obviously stolen red convertible, which made Ponyboy wonder where Dally had even gotten the chance to take it). When they sat in the car, that was when the blonde had tried to calm his breathing. He put his hands to his forehead and yelled, "Ponyboy . . . what the HELL was going on back there?"

Ponyboy winced at the irascible greaser's tone. His tears quickly began to reform, sliding down and down his face, not able to stop them. "P-Please don't t-tell S-Soda and Darry," he managed to croak out, begging the blue-eyed man.

Dally took his hands off his face immediately, glancing at Ponyboy sharply. His look then softened a bit when he saw the tears. "Christ, kid, don't _cry,_" said Dally in an uncomforting manner, but then Pony's tears turned into sobs, and that was when Dally put an arm around Ponyboy's shoulders, drawing him near and rubbing his back soothingly.

A few minutes passed by, with Pony just sobbing his little heart out and Dally holding him tightly. Ponyboy gasped loudly and shakily, trying to compose himself. Soon enough, the sobs stopped and the tears evaporated. That was when Dallas used this as an opportunity to talk.

"So . . . are you gonna tell me what was going on?" asked Dally, ruffling Ponyboy's hair up with his other hand in an attempt to cheer up the younger greaser. His right hand remained planted on Pony's back, still rubbing the younger one's back unconsciously.

Ponyboy sniffled. "That Soc, he j-just grabbed me and started t-t-touchin' me. He was k-k-kissin' me – golly, Dal, he-he stole my first kiss," explained Ponyboy, his lower lip wobbling and his eyes about to burst into tears again at any moment.

Dally, on the other hand, stopped rubbing Ponyboy's back for a second, freezing. Then, he continued, rubbing even faster than before. His face could only be described as absolutely furious, revealing so much hatred through his expression. His blue eyes were not icy, but instead blazing with fire and enmity. The angered man's lips were twisted into a scowl, his animalistic teeth bared. It actually scared Ponyboy to look at him.

Abruptly, Dally hit the steering wheel with such force that Ponyboy was shocked that it hadn't fallen off. The horn began blaring, acting as a censor as Dallas began to shout obscene things and profanities as loudly as he could. Pony flinched, but did nothing to stop him.

After a few minutes, the horn stopped blaring and Dally calmed down a bit, his breathing heavy. Ponyboy stared at him with wide eyes, afraid to ask the man if he was okay. He didn't want all of that ferociousness directed at him.

". . . Give me his name. I'll fuckin' find him, I swear to God, I will. Just give me a name, any name," said Dally, and if Ponyboy hadn't known better, he could've swore that Dallas was pleading.

Ponyboy shook his head slowly and sadly, eyes still wide. He had to word this carefully; Dally was still volatile. "I-I don't know. He ain't in any of my classes." He said nothing about how the Soc was obviously older than he was.

Dally cussed under his breath, muttering other things as well. "Kiddo," began Dallas a little too calmly, considering how huge his temper was before, "if you find out his name, tell me immediately. And if this _ever_ happens again, you tell me first. Screw Darry and Soda. You tell _me _first. Also, you do realize I have to tell your brothers about this, right?"

Paling a considerable amount, Ponyboy looked up at Dally with big, teary eyes, begging, "Please, Dally, please, please, _please _don't tell Soda and Darry. They'll lock me in the house and throw away the key."

Dally hesitated for a brief second, thinking over his options. If he told the older Curtis brothers, they'd protect Ponyboy, but they'll be way over protective . . . If he didn't tell them, then Pony wouldn't be protected, but Ponyboy will have his freedom . . . Dally knew what he had to do.

"Pony, I've gotta tell your big brothers . . . I don't wanna be the one gettin' my head kicked in for not tellin' 'em anythin' if this gets outta hand," said Dally, shrugging. He was a good fighter and wasn't scared of the Curtis brothers one bit, but someone as big as Darry would _definitely _leave a mark.

Ponyboy looked up at Dally pleadingly, looking like he was about to start crying again. Dallas froze for a minute, just staring at Pony, before wincing. He'd never witnessed the Ponyboy pout first-hand, but had overheard the gang discussing how nobody could beat it. He now knew what they were talking about.

"Pony . . . babe, I gotta tell your brothers. I just gotta," tried Dally, but to no avail. He had no idea how powerful this kid could be . . . And Ponyboy still kept it up, though, turning it up a charm even. The almost red head stuck out his lower lip in a pout; his eyes big and sparkly with tears. Dally tilted his head and looked away quickly, unable to withstand the sheer adorableness of Ponyboy Michael Curtis.

"Fine, fine, I won't tell," Dally said reluctantly, giving in. Ponyboy smiled brightly, his eyes shining with joy. However, Dally looked the short greaser in the eye and added sternly, "But if this happens again, you _better _tell me."

"Thanks, Dal. I owe you one," said Ponyboy genially, still smiling brightly from ear to ear. Dally rolled his newly turned back ice blue eyes at him, starting up the red convertible. Now that Pony was in his usual state, he thought about many different ways that Dally could've stolen this car (each thought being more exaggerated and funnier than the last). A few times, he giggled, causing Dally to look at him with his indifferent stare.

Soon enough, they arrived at the Curtis household. Two-Bit had been the only one there, and he had frequently pestered them, demanding to know why it took them so long to get from school. Eventually, Dallas had snapped and told him he'd introduce his fist to Two-Bit's face if he didn't stop bothering them. The rusty hair colored greaser had sufficed. A few hours later, Soda, Steve, and Darry had returned, and, true to his word, Dally spoke nothing of the incident. However, there had been no sign of Johnny all day, which made Ponyboy concerned for his best buddy. But, as today was such an 'exciting' day, Pony had accidently fallen asleep on the couch while watching Mickey.

Two-Bit, who had been sitting next to Ponyboy on the couch, watching the TV intently, glanced over his shoulder at Ponyboy when said teen had poked Two-Bit in his sleep. Two-Bit smirked. "Hey, Soda," he called over to the man on the floor, "your kid brother's out like a light."

Sodapop immediately settled his gaze on his brother's sleeping form, the corners of his mouth tugged upwards as his gaze softened. "I'll take him to bed in a minute. I just need to get some water first." With that, the blonde hopped up from the floor and sprinted towards the kitchen.

"I don't understand why the brat's fallin' asleep on the couch. I go to school and work and you don't see me dozin' off like that," said Steve irritably, voicing his opinion loudly enough so the occupants in the room (minus Ponyboy) could hear, but not loudly enough so that Soda could hear.

"And I don't understand why you gotta be so jealous of the kid," snapped Dally immediately, glaring at Steve (who scowled angrily). "If your poker game with Soda means so much, I'll carry him." Dally stood up then, going over to Ponyboy's place on the couch, and lifting the youngest greaser of the gang carefully in a bridal style position.

As Dally exited the room, he heard Two-Bit say to Steve, "Y'know, one of these days Darry and Soda'll catch on. And none of us are gonna be able to help you when you're gettin' the tar beaten out of you."

Dally smirked. You could always trust Two-Bit to hand you the most blunt news. He passed Soda in the kitchen, who was currently downing his glass of water. Soda looked up at the other blonde confusedly, eyeing Ponyboy.

"I'm bringin' him to bed. You can go finish your game with Steve, I guess," explained Dally coolly. Now's not the time for Steve to be found out yet (besides, Darry was sleeping right now and Johnny would miss all the fun).

Soda took one last glance at his younger brother before shrugging. "Okay, thanks, Dal," he said easily, throwing his cup in the sink and running back to the room Dally had just came from. It was a good thing Dally didn't see Darry, because said man would've asked him a bunch of questions, and Dallas Winston was not in the mood to answer anything.

Dally kicked the door to Soda and Pony's room, laying Ponyboy on the bed. He covered the green-eyed teen and tucked him in gently, being careful not to wake him. He didn't want Ponyboy to wake up and start asking him questions, since Dally wasn't in the mood to answer them.

As the light blonde turned to leave the room, he heard a peculiar sound come from the almost red head. He spun around, watching Ponyboy mumble things and fitfully move around in his sleep. Then, Dally saw something shiny on the teen's face. He squinted his eyes, trying to figure out what the object was. Surprise, surprise, Dally was actually shocked that tears were currently coating Pony's face.

The tears wouldn't stop streaming down Ponyboy's face, along with a whimper and something that sounded suspiciously like 'help' escaped him. Dally furrowed his eyebrows. What was he supposed to do now?

Quickly enough, Ponyboy's whimpers were becoming louder and louder, and Dallas knew that the screams and sobs were soon after. If Ponyboy started screaming, that would mean Darry would wake up, and if Darry was here while Steve said something stupid, the oldest Curtis brother might actually shatter Steve's jaw this time. Ponyboy's nightmares were a touchy subject for the whole family, but Dally was sure that Steve would be an asshole (for the millionth time) and say something about Pony and his nightmares. And, as much as Dally loved fights (and at this particular moment, watch Steve getting beat by Soda and Darry), he knew that there would be high tensions between Steve and Darry, – maybe Soda, too – which made everyone uncomfortable. Therefore, this apparently left Dally up to the job to stop Pony's nightmares.

"Shh," said Dally rather awkwardly as he gently massaged Ponyboy's scalp. Unfortunately, this motion did nothing, so Dally decided to change tactics. He got in bed next to the teen and put his arms around him, drawing him near, and began to hum an old song his mother had used to sing for him. The soothing lullaby worked, and Ponyboy was lulled back into calm slumber once more.

For a few more minutes, Dally stayed in bed, his arms wrapped tightly around the teen. He wanted to make sure that Pony's nightmares would not reoccur the moment he was gone. However, he had to be quick, because if Soda or anyone else came in here . . . well, let's just say he'd probably end up with something much worse than a black eye.

Dally dawdled a bit, though, just staring at Ponyboy's sleeping form. The green-eyed greaser looked so peaceful and beautiful (although he already was this) while he was slumbering . . . And, not able to resist in the slightest bit, he uncharacteristically kissed Ponyboy gently on the forehead. He froze, realizing what he just did. Immediately, Dally jumped out of the bed and out the door.

_Dallas Winston doesn't care about anyone! _Dally scolded himself angrily, _The kid just looked . . . looked too cute not to be kissed! Yeah, that's right. He was just too cute. Okay, good. _

And he continued to lie to himself for the next few hours.


	3. Throw Away the Key

A new chapter!

Sorry for updating late! I was busy the past few weekends. Ha, don't you hate it when you really like an author, but they actually have a social life? XD I know I do.

Whoa . . . 30 reviews for 2 chapters. You guys really know how to spoil a girl! Thank you all for everything!

Now, story time!

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><p>Toss, turn, toss, turn. The pattern was predictable and, most of all, tiring. Ponyboy fitfully rolled around in his sleep, his movements seeming to know no bounds. Soda had not yet been awoken by this, which was a miraculous feat all by itself.<p>

Soon enough, Ponyboy awoke with a shrill shriek, causing Soda to almost fall off the bed in terror and shock. The blonde greaser immediately flipped himself over to face his younger brother, and saw Ponyboy trying to conceal his sobs with a pillow.

"Honey, what's wrong?" asked Soda solicitously, his expression sketched with concern. He gently pulled Ponyboy closer to him, attempting to put his arms around the petite teen. Ponyboy practically leaped into Soda's open arms, clutching onto the other greaser with all the might he could muster. He buried his head in his elder brother's chest, bawling.

"What's going on here?" Darry's body appeared by the doorway, holding his arms up threateningly as if expecting a criminal lurking inside. He instantly dropped his muscled arms to his sides at the heart-breaking scene.

Sodapop glanced up at his elder brother momentarily and shrugged, but quickly reverted his eyes back to Ponyboy, trying to appease him with soothing words and gestures. Some of it worked, but for the most part, Pony was still frightened out of his mind from the nightmare.

"Ponyboy, calm down," Darry said, taking a seat on the bed next to his two brothers. Darry watched the scene with sad eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. As far as the brunette could see, it always seemed like Ponyboy would only have eyes for Sodapop, never for his oldest brother. And as for Soda . . . no one could mess with his little brother. No one.

"Another nightmare, huh, sweetie?" asked Soda when Pony had calmed down a considerable amount. Ponyboy hiccupped, nodding sleepily against Sodapop's chest. The blonde's eyes shone with so much love for the green-eyed teen as he cradled him tenderly and gingerly.

Soda didn't bother to ask Ponyboy what his nightmare was about and neither did Darry. They both knew that Pony was still fragile and sore over it now, so the best thing to do would be to discuss it in the morning.

As both of them watched the almost red head drift off to sleep, Soda turned to Darry and said, "Dar, what's going on with Pone? He's been actin' kinda weird lately, and now the nightmares are startin' to pop up again . . . This is the worst I've seen him in months; he almost never cries, never mind sob, from nightmares."

Darry exhaled loudly, his eyes trained on Ponyboy's tear streaked face. "I don't know, little buddy. We'll talk to him in the mornin' and find out. Just try to go to sleep for now. I'll see you in a few hours." With that, Darry stood up from the bed and started in the direction of his own bedroom.

Soda watched Ponyboy's reposing form and began to comb his fingers through his younger brother's tangled mat of hair. Whatever was going on with Ponyboy, Soda _will _fix it. 'Cause that's what big brothers do: help and protect the younger siblings.

And Soda'll be damned if he fails.

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><p>"Ponyboy, time to get up, kiddo!" Ponyboy heard a voice call out, being stirred awake by it. He groaned loudly, not at all enthusiastic about waking up, even if it was the weekend. The green-eyed teen grabbed his pillow and put it over his face, determined to go back to sleep.<p>

"Ponyboy," the stern, low voice of Darry's came from nearby, "get up. Soda and I wanna talk to you before we go to work." Then Pony heard Darry stomping away, presumably to the kitchen.

The almost red head winced and then sat up in bed. He knew what this discussion would be about: his nightmare from last night. Ponyboy shivered as he recalled it. That was one heck of an awful dream; he was absolutely terrified from it.

As slowly as he could, Pony stood up and stretched, and then lethargically walked over to the dresser to retrieve some clothes (a green tank top and short shorts, it was so boiling outside that you could fry an egg on the sidewalk!).

After Ponyboy finished tidying himself, he walked into the kitchen to see Steve, Darry, Two-Bit, Johnny, and Soda huddled around the table. They all turned to look at him, many of their expressions shocked. Ponyboy looked down as he felt their eyes analyze him.

"No. Absolutely not. Go change right now," Darry said immediately when he laid his eyes upon Ponyboy. He eyed Pony's outfit with skepticism, observing all minor and major flaws of it.

"But Darry, it's blisterin' out there," Ponyboy whined. He also pouted, his face turning red as he looked away, abashed. It was bad enough that Darry would tell him things like this with only Soda in the room, but in front of the gang? It seemed like Darry _wanted _him to die of embarrassment.

"Kid, you best be listenin' to your big brother," retorted Steve, who was staring at Ponyboy like he just announced that he was Abraham Lincoln. "Don't wanna get kidnapped, do you?"

Ponyboy shot Steve a nasty look, which the other greaser gladly returned. Steve knew _exactly _how to annoy the green-gray eyed teen. Unfortunately, he also knew that merely mentioning the words 'Ponyboy' and 'kidnapping' (or something similar) in the same sentence made Soda and Darry as nervous as heck.

And that's just what happened.

Darry tensed, his eyes having gone cold, while Soda almost choked on his sliver of chocolate cake. Ponyboy glared at Steve as said man cheekily smirked back. Oh, boy, how Pony hated the tall and lean greaser right now. Why couldn't have Steve been born less observant or, rather, been born without being so discordant against Pony all the time?

"Ponyboy, go put on some sweats and a hoodie. I don't care if it's higher than 90 degrees out there, just do it," commanded Darry very seriously, his face hardened and his body stiff. He had just realized that if Pony went out in an outfit _like that_, it would be even more surprising if he _wasn't _groped, or molested, or kidnapped, or whatever else freaks did to someone's 15 year old baby brother.

The youngest of the gang gaped at his eldest brother in awe. That was extremely strict, even for Darry. The rest of the gang (minus Steve and Dally, and the latter he hasn't seen since Thursday) jumped to Pony's defense.

"Superman, you can't be serious. The poor kid'll die from the heat!" exclaimed Two-Bit, his eyes wide. He didn't necessarily want Ponyboy to wear _this_, but if he wears what Darry wants him to, he'll die from all of this humidity!

"Yeah, I agree with Two-Bit. 'Sides, if me and Two-Bit go wherever Ponyboy goes, he'll be okay," Johnny said quietly. Pony was thrilled to see him. He hadn't seen the dark teen for a couple of days and had wondered where he had been. Ponyboy (sadly) spotted a few marks and bruises on him that weren't there earlier.

Darry sighed, his eyes scanning Ponyboy's outfit once more. " . . . Fine," he complied, not being able to withstand the power of Johnny's reasonability, Ponyboy's pouting and whining, and Two-Bit's exaggeration all at once. "You stick around with the gang if you go anywhere. Never go off by your lonesome for one second. You dig?" asked Darry, looking directly at his youngest brother.

Ponyboy nodded enthusiastically, elated by the fact that Darry and Soda (mainly Darry, though) had capitulated this quickly about his clothing. He stuck out his tongue at Steve, who in turn looked at Pony with disdain.

However, Ponyboy wasn't let off the hook just yet. Soda and Darry rapidly shared a concerned look, both having qualms about Ponyboy going out dressed like this.

"Ponyboy, we need to talk . . . _alone,_" emphasized Darry when he saw no one move from their spots. Johnny and Steve evacuated the room, but one particularly indolent greaser made no signs of ever leaving. However, when Darry sent one glare in Two-Bit's direction, said nineteen year old ran out like the house was on fire.

Soda chuckled at the scene, and it was hard for Ponyboy not to let out a grin, even if he knew for sure they were about to discuss his current nightmare.

"So, Pony," Sodapop drawled on, and Ponyboy wished he'd hurry up and get this over with. All three of them knew what this was about, "you've been actin' real strange lately . . . mind tellin' us what's it about?"

Ponyboy blinked, not expecting this question. They weren't going to talk about his nightmare? Hmm, maybe all of them _didn't _know what this was about . . .

"I ain't got any idea what you're talkin' about," smoothly lied Ponyboy, staring at the plate in front of him. His lying skills seemed plausible enough for himself, but he didn't see Soda and Darry share another look, both of them silently asking each other what to do now.

". . . Okay, but if somethin' is wrong, you know you can always tell me and Soda," said Darry, his ice blue-green eyes meeting Ponyboy's own green-gray ones. Ponyboy nodded swiftly and then glanced back down at his plate, bored and a little bit jittery from this tedious conversation.

The two eldest Curtis brothers frowned at the display, Soda furrowing his eyebrows as Darry scrutinized Ponyboy. Soda gave Darry an uneasy look, both of them thinking the same thing: _What was wrong with their usually saucy younger brother?_

Sadly, for the pair, they had to go to work soon if they didn't want to be late. Soda gave Ponyboy a sloppy kiss on the cheek before bounding out the door, running into Steve (which had started a playful wrestling match). Darry leant down by his youngest brother, Ponyboy still having to stand on his tippy toes to give his eldest brother a short kiss on the cheek.

"I'll see y'all later!" shouted Ponyboy from the front door, watching as Steve and his brothers got into Darry's truck (Steve had finally fixed it up yesterday after Darry had angrily inquired about it).

"Bye!" Soda's head popped out from the window, waving rapidly as the truck rolled out of the driveway. Ponyboy waved back, snickering slightly when he heard Darry yell at Soda to stick his head back in.

He stood there, just watching the car drive away as he listened to the sounds of Steve's and Soda's banter along with Darry's booming voice scolding them. Pony rolled his eyes, still not believing this happened daily.

"So what do you kiddos wanna do?" asked Two-Bit, leaning against the gate in a bored manner. He yawned once, blinking away sleep from his eyes. The jokester had just woken up about half an hour ago, and he did _not _like to be awake early in the morning. Especially on a weekend.

Ponyboy huffed, putting his hands on his hips. "I'm no kid, Two-Bit. I'm fifteen years old, for Pete's sake, and Johnny will be eighteen in a couple of months!"

Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow and smirked, now in the mood to tease the youngest gang member. But then he remembered his promise, and, as much fun it would be to upset Pony, said greaser would eventually reach a breaking point (running away or bursting into tears), and a hormonal, teenaged Ponyboy was _not _fun when he was crying or gone. Plus, Darry and Soda would pulverize him if either repercussions happened.

So Two-Bit decided that staying quiet was the best way to go at it.

"Hey, Two-Bit! Hello? Did you hear me?" A pause with more continued silence. "Fine then, be that way. C'mon, Johnny, let's go back into the house; Two-Bit's not fun when he's dumb _and _deaf." Ponyboy smiled slyly at the rusty-haired greaser before skipping inside.

Two-Bit stood there, taking a moment to realize what Pony had said. He then sprinted into the small house, found Ponyboy, and leaped onto the slender teen, tickling him mercilessly.

"Say Uncle!" yelled Two-Bit over Ponyboy's giggles and shrieks, grinning widely like a Cheshire cat. He continued to run his fingers up and down the teen's sides. He didn't stop at all, even though Ponyboy would swat at him.

"Uncle, Uncle!" Ponyboy cried out, still giggling crazily. He pushed the stocky man off him, laying a hand over his stomach. He felt like he had busted a gut, which was most definitely not a pleasant feeling.

Johnny stood by the doorway, smiling shyly at the rather amusing and affectionate display. Golly, it was absolutely adorable how Two-Bit and Ponyboy would interact with one another – although it seemed that neither knew how cute it was.

Two-Bit grinned mirthfully, sticking out his tongue at the youngest gang member. He then turned a bit more serious and said, "What do y'all really wanna do? 'Cause if we're stayin' here, I'm gonna sleep some more."

"I wanna see that new Paul Newman movie real bad!" replied Ponyboy jubilantly, looking up at Johnny and Two-Bit with excitement. He bounced up and down for a few seconds before realizing only little kids and Soda did that.

Two-Bit shrugged apathetically, not at all caring if they went or not. He then looked up at Johnny questioningly and asked, "That alright with you, Johnnycake?"

Said dark-haired greaser nodded in response and glanced at Ponyboy, who couldn't seem to be any more happier with his brightly lit eyes and his ecstatic grin. Johnny smiled faintly, happy to see his buddy so eager.

"Let's go later, when it's darker," Two-Bit said, which made Ponyboy's grin falter a bit. Pony still seemed very joyful, though, reminding himself that he'll see it anyway. They were only going that late to the Nightly Double because none of them had any money to spare (or wanted to pay).

The rest of the morning and afternoon was rather uneventful, actually. Two-Bit, true to his word, slept not only the rest of the morning, but the whole _afternoon _as well. Because of that, Ponyboy and Johnny had had to find other ways to entertain themselves. They had played poker, played various other card games, watched Mickey, read, and they had played a few games of checkers out of sheer boredom. Ponyboy had really hoped that Dally would walk through the front door, but no such luck. It seemed to Ponyboy that Dally was avoiding them, as strange as that sounded, but he had no logical reason _why_ that could be.

"Johnny, do you think it's dark enough to go out now?" asked Ponyboy impatiently for the umpteenth time. He _really _wanted to see this movie, and his patience was wearing thin on him.

Johnny sighed, having faced this question many, many times from the same person. "Yeah, looks good enough. Let's go wake up Two-Bit." The two headed to where the still comatose man was on the couch, trying to arouse him from sleep with loud words and shaking motions. However, nothing worked. Two-Bit was, simply put, out like a light. No chance of waking him up now.

"What now?" Ponyboy asked, very irritated and vexed by this change of plans. He put his arms on his hips sassily, frowning deeply at Two-Bit. "I mean, he's definitely not gonna wake up."

"Maybe we should see the movie tomorrow," suggested Johnny harmlessly, but when he saw the beyond horrified look on Pony's face, he quickly added, "or not."

Ponyboy sighed, relieved. "Whew, you really had me worried there for a second, Johnny. Thought you'd said the impossible. Anyways, let's just leave a note for him and the rest of the gang and go."

Johnny studied Ponyboy's expression, hesitant. Darry and Soda would have a cow if Pony snuck out now, but on the other hand, it looked like Ponyboy would start whining and pouting about not going, and he may actually resort to crying if desperate enough. He wasn't sure which situation was worse.

"Please, please, _please, _Johnnycake! I'll be your best buddy," said Ponyboy in an overly sweet and sugary voice. He was pouting, opening up his green eyes in an attempt to make them bigger. Johnny looked away, but it was too late. He had seen the Ponyboy Michael Curtis pout.

"Fine, let's get a move on. But if Soda and Darry start going after me for lettin' you go now, I'll tell 'em who had smashed Darry's prized football trophy _and _who had put that whoopee cushion underneath Soda while he was on his date!" Johnny tried his hardest to put on a poker face, but a bit of a smirk peeked through.

Ponyboy gasped, aghast by Johnny's threats. "You know that I had knocked over Darry's trophy by accident, and that Two-Bit had told me to leave that whoopee cushion there!" he retaliated back, crossing his arms over his chest.

"And who do you think they'd believe? The out-of-control, over-emotional teenager or the sensible, young adult?" asked Johnny in a rather smug tone for himself, smirking some more.

"You ain't a young adult nor are you that kid from a year back," Ponyboy grumbled under his breath, frowning. It was true, while Johnny had recovered from his Soc attack, became more open, and had a dramatic growth spurt (Ponyboy was only up to Johnny's nose, in comparison to having been almost the same height a year back!); he had not exactly turned into a mature, young adult yet.

Johnny ignored Ponyboy's comment, instead concentrating on finding a piece of paper and a pencil. He found some blank sheets of paper by the counter and had found a pencil below Darry's armchair. The dark-haired teen handed them to Pony, who immediately began to write where they were going and when they'd be back. He placed the note on the kitchen table and then headed out the front door with Johnny.

The duo had just about arrived at the Nightly Double before Ponyboy noticed that he had forgotten his jacket. Johnny had persistently offered his, but Pony had denied it, saying it still wasn't that cold yet.

"So what's this movie about?" asked Johnny when the two had sneaked over the fence and settled into some seats.

Ponyboy shrugged carelessly, which caused Johnny to stare at him questioningly and skeptically. "What?" Ponyboy asked, a bit annoyed by the look he was receiving.

". . . You don't got any idea what this movie's about, and the only reason you came to see it was 'cause of Paul Newman," said Johnny very slowly, his eyebrow raised in a manner like Two-Bit's.

"Yeah," said Pony absent-mindedly, not really paying attention to the conversation as he tried his hardest to watch the screen. Johnny chuckled under his breath before fixing his gaze on the movie.

They sat like that for a while, just contentedly watching the film, until Ponyboy had gotten out of his seat and told Johnny that he had to go to the restroom. The tanned teen nodded distractedly, his concentration fully absorbed in the flick. Pony rolled his eyes, walking off to his destination.

After Ponyboy was done with his business, he turned the tap on the sink and began lathering his hands with the lemon-scented bar of soap. Unfortunately, the water was so loud that he hadn't heard one of the stalls creak open.

"Well, well, well, what do I see here? A little pony a bit too far from his territory." At the sound of the too familiar voice, Ponyboy immediately spun around to find himself face to face with a Soc.

The Soc leered at him, running his lust-filled eyes up and down Ponyboy's body longingly. Ponyboy inadvertently shivered and wrapped his arms across his chest protectively. This Soc . . . was _way _too familiar. And then it hit him. This man was one of the ones who would harass him from the car!

"You are one hot greaser, baby. You're just beggin' for it with an outfit like that." The Soc wolf whistled, getting closer and closer to Ponyboy. The younger teen didn't know or want to know what 'it' meant, but he backed up, regardless.

Ponyboy hit the sink, and that was the moment when the Soc got all up in his face, slithering his arms around him tightly and uncomfortably. The greaser gasped and tried to push and shove the elder man off him, but to no avail.

The Soc chuckled darkly and said, "That won't help you even a bit." Then, he plundered Ponyboy's mouth, his tongue forcefully making it in as his hands roamed all over his victim's lithe body.

For Ponyboy, this was absolute torture. He fought back continuously, but he soon realized that none of this would help him this time. His only hope for rescue would be if Johnny or some other kind soul would walk into the bathroom and help him out.

However, that didn't happen. The Soc's hands wandered lower and lower, one hand lecherously resting on his bottom as the other meandered down his body. And then the unthinkable for Pony happened.

The Soc began to unbutton his own shorts.

Ponyboy's eyes widened impossibly huge at that, staring in horror at this man. He . . . he could get _raped _now. The thought had never even once struck Ponyboy (he always thought that this only occurred to girls), and now it was flabbergasting to him. He felt nauseous instantly, so he did the one thing that he couldn't even control.

He spilled just about everything from his guts onto the Soc.

"You fuckin' bitch!" The Soc yelled vehemently, staring at his shirt in horror. He had jumped back about a foot the moment the bile had touched him. He grabbed a paper towel, Ponyboy completely forgotten, as he hurriedly attempted to wipe off the vomit.

Ponyboy wasted no time getting the hell out of there. He sprinted, running a million times faster than any track race he'd ever been in, and ran head first into Johnny.

"Ponyboy?" Johnny asked confusedly, rubbing his head in agony. A new bump would form for sure. "What're you doing? You were in that bathroom for a real long time."

The younger teen in question paled at the words and, not having an ounce of control over this, began to bawl. The noisy cry startled Johnny and he immediately looked at Ponyboy with concern, his big black eyes softening.

"Pony, what's wrong?" asked Johnny considerably, reaching out to rub Ponyboy's back comfortingly. Ponyboy abruptly flinched the second that Johnny's hand had touched him, which made Johnny look at him with such surprise and shock.

"I wanna go home, Johnny. I just really wanna go home," Ponyboy said extremely quietly, looking more skittish and bewildered than Johnny's ever seen him before. It broke the older teen's heart.

Johnny nodded and handed the younger greaser his jacket without saying anything. Ponyboy took it, mumbling a 'thank you.' The two headed home, not talking at all. During the walk, Johnny meticulously studied Pony's behavior, noticing that Ponyboy's face, although stained and still streaming with tears, was now completely devoid of emotion. He would sniffle occasionally and he kept his arms crossed securely over his chest at all times. This worried the tanned teen more than the sobbing.

When the duo were almost in full view of the Curtis house, that was when Johnny decided he would try to gather any information from Ponyboy about what had freaked him out so badly.

"Pony?" Johnny asked hesitantly in a gentle manner. Ponyboy looked up at him, his eyes half-lidded and sad-looking. "Can you please tell me what happened?"

Ponyboy shook his head rapidly, his eyes big and now filled with fear. Where the fear was coming from, Johnny had absolutely no idea. He wondered if Pony had gotten jumped, but then he noted that there were no visible marks or bruises on him. So what was the problem?

"Ponyboy, please, _please, _tell me. I swear I won't tell a soul," begged Johnny, using the most highest and pleading tone he had. But Ponyboy's mouth remained clamped, shaking his head in disapproval once more.

"You're scarin' me, Pony," said Johnny honestly, trying to use guilt to work it out of Ponyboy. Usually, this method would work, but now, Ponyboy said absolutely nothing. In fact, he didn't even make any signs of ever hearing what Johnny had said. This really _was_ scaring Johnny.

"Ponyboy," Johnny demanded in a stern tone. His voice wasn't too rough, but terror still showed through Pony's eyes. He began to silently cry, still refusing to speak. Johnny felt horrible as he watched the tears stream down Pony's face (_Note to self: stern tactic doesn't work with Ponyboy, _thought Johnny).

Johnny's facial features softened and he stopped walking, his plan backfiring and having gotten _himself _guilty instead. "I'm so sorry, Pony. I won't ask you anymore, okay? You wanna hug?"

At the word 'hug,' Ponyboy nodded, latching onto Johnny and squeezing him tightly. He cried and sobbed for a good ten minutes before he calmed down, handing Johnny back his jacket after he complained that he wasn't cold anymore. And then, he felt oddly more so at peace. However, he still couldn't admit to anyone what had happened to him. He just couldn't. It was too embarrassing and awful to ever tell.

They walked some more, Ponyboy's sniffling and tears gone, only his blood-shot eyes evidence that he'd ever been crying. And Pony was glad for that. At least he wouldn't have to explain more to his brothers and the rest of the gang.

Oh, God, the gang. What would he tell them? Well, he wouldn't tell them anything. If they asked, he'd tell them nothing happened, except maybe that the movie was a little more emotional than he'd expected (hence his red eyes). There was no doubt that Darry would be furious, with Two-Bit probably angry at them for ditching him. Oh well, Two-Bit was usually mad for about two seconds and then he was back to his happy self.

"I can't believe you two just left like that!" shouted a furious Darry the moment Ponyboy and Johnny had entered the house. Ponyboy cringed at the tone, but Darry, in all his anger, hadn't noticed it.

"We left a note," said a very quiet and now timid Johnny, wrapping an arm around Pony's shoulders in a comforting manner. He looked up at Darry with a rather piercing gaze for his shy tone.

"Still, you two should always go with-" Darry suddenly stopped mid-sentence, staring at Ponyboy. His body went rigid and his eyes were icy. "Ponyboy, have you been wearin' that since you went out?" he asked in a strangely cold and steady tone.

Ponyboy nodded very slowly, and as he did so, Darry's face turned into such an unnatural shade of red that it was astounding to watch. "WHAT?" exploded Darry, his fists clenched to his sides.

At the tone, Ponyboy's eyes began to water and he cowered, which hadn't gone unnoticed by both Sodapop (who had been eerily quiet the whole time) and Johnny. He buried his head in Johnny's chest, stifling a cry.

Darry deflated, finally seeing how upset Pony was, at the same time Soda ran over to his younger brother and took him in his arms, embracing and coddling him. Two-Bit and Steve shared a nervous and confused look, both not knowing what was going on.

"Oh, my precious sweetie, what happened?" asked a very sympathetic and tender Soda, cradling Ponyboy in his arms like a baby. Ponyboy shook his head, the tears overflowing from his eyes. It was too painful to relive.

"I wanna go to bed," whimpered Pony, wiping his eyes hurriedly. It was bad enough crying in front of his brothers, but in front of Two-Bit and Steve (especially the latter)? Ponyboy was having an awful week. He's just been crying the whole time.

Soda nodded, his protective big brother instinct kicked into full gear. He picked Ponyboy up rather easily and walked over to their room, leaving a baffled Darry, a serious Two-Bit, a stupefied Steve, and an incredibly concerned Johnny in the living room.

He laid Ponyboy on the bed, gently removing a few tears with his hands. Soda got into bed with the green-eyed teen, but before he did so, he gave Ponyboy his pajamas. As Pony put them on, he sniffled occasionally. His elder brother then snuggled him to his chest after he was done.

"Love you, Soda."

"Love you, too, Ponyboy."

And cue the falling asleep.


	4. But Then Call the Locksmith

Hey guys!

There is this **awesome** story you all need to check out! If you love the slash in this fandom (especially Ponyboy slash), you need to look up **Love of Another: Outsiders Slash Collection.** It. Is. Fantastic! The whole story is basically a bunch of song-fics about Outsiders slash. I believe that many of you will enjoy this, because most of you (if not all of you) seem to really like slash. So please read and review this story; it has my seal of approval XD And no, the lovely author, Snakebites-chan, did NOT force me to do this! I offered to do so myself (you can see my comment in the review section) because it really deserves much more reviews. Plus, who doesn't like Outsiders song-fics (especially about slash)?

Well, that was mainly what I wrote this Author's Note for. Oh, and before I forget, I also wanted to say that you guys are absolutely wonderful. Your reviews, PMs, favorites, alerts, and whatever else I'm forgetting to mention, get me so excited each and every time! Thank you so much, you're all awesome and spectacular!

Okay, I'm done now. Read!

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><p>Soda, to be simply put, was <em>furious.<em>

Soda watched his younger brother as he slept peacefully, idly stroking Ponyboy's hair. Oh, how he loved Ponyboy's beautiful and silky hair . . . It was almost better than his own was. He wished Pony didn't grease it up as often as he did, but this would be rather hypocritical, considering the blonde himself smothered his hair with grease just about every day.

_Wait a minute, don't get off track here, Sodapop, _scolded Soda in his thoughts, _You're angry. Very angry. Especially since Pone won't tell you what's wrong – but you're not angry at Ponyboy. No, no, definitely not. _

But all Soda did was sigh in melancholy, smiling bitter-sweetly. All he wished for was for Ponyboy to tell him and Darry what was wrong. That way, he and Darry can beat the tar out of whoever's screwing around with Pony. Soda didn't appreciate anyone who messed with his kindred.

As Soda just lay in bed, now unconsciously petting Ponyboy's hair, he saw Darry standing outside the doorway, looking very awkward. He signaled his elder brother to come in with a wave of his hand.

"Soda-" Darry was immediately interrupted when Soda shushed him angrily, pointing to his comatose brother. The eldest Curtis brother nodded once, and then continued speaking in a much softer tone, "Soda, can I talk to you?"

The blonde in question nodded and gingerly stepped out of bed, being cautious as to not wake up Ponyboy. There was no telling what Pony might do when woken up, especially since Darry was in the room. Soda, though, felt a vibe that Ponyboy will want an apology from Darry, which Soda will _definitely _make sure he'll get.

"What's up, Darry?" asked Soda while the two were walking toward the kitchen. When they reached their destination, the dark-brown eyed man was surprised to see the rest of the gang – minus Ponyboy, of course. He even saw Dally (who had been gone for quite a while, he noted) leaning on a chair, looking as cool and blasé as ever.

"Why are we all here? I like to sleep, y'know," said Dally crabbily, sending the eldest Curtis brother an irritated mien. He glanced around the table to see the rest of the gang's expressions (a noticeably awake Two-Bit, a concerned Johnny, and a half-worried Steve). Dally had no idea what this convention was for, but if Two-Bit wasn't snoozing and Steve was bothering to look even kind of nervous, this had to be big.

Darry narrowed his eyes slightly in response at the tough greaser, not in the mood to deal with behavior like this. Not when he wanted to talk about something so serious. "If you want to, you can sleep on the couch when it's over," he replied. Then he said, "Okay, so about last night. Y'all saw how Pony was-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What was going on last night?" Dally asked, his body language appearing indifferent, but his eyes showing that he wanted to know what had gone on while he hadn't been there.

"Johnnycake and Pony had gone to the movies. Pony came back bawlin' his eyes out after ol' Darry had started yellin' at him. Man, I'd never seen the kid so worked up before," explained Two-Bit. It was so not funny to him that he didn't even bother to crack a joke.

Dally stayed silent, processing this news. Ponyboy had been crying. Ponyboy had been crying. Ponyboy had been crying. That was all that went through the towheaded greaser's mind.

Darry nodded slowly, grimacing at the rueful memory. He hadn't meant to make his youngest brother burst into tears; his anger had gotten the best of him. But he bet his money that something had happened before that. Ponyboy doesn't usually come home with bloodshot eyes, now does he? That had been the first thing Darry had noticed when Pony had arrived home (before his anger had started to really act up), but he had dismissed it as the movie being sad enough for him to start tearing up.

"Me and Soda have been tryin' to ask Pony what's wrong, but he says nothin'. He's been havin' nightmares, actin' kinda strange, and then he comes home on the verge of cryin'. So can you guys tell us somethin' that might've triggered this?" asked Darry.

"When me and Pony went to the theater, he left to go to the bathroom and came back bawlin'. He wouldn't tell me nothin'," Johnny said quietly, looking down at the table. He really wished he knew more asides from that, but, sadly, he didn't.

Dally tensed slightly, both at Darry's question and at Johnny's response. If he told the gang what had happened to Ponyboy on Thursday, then he'd be betraying Pony's trust, and it already sounded like Ponyboy had had a rough week. Dally was a criminal, but he wasn't exactly heartless. And then Johnny's answer . . . Dally just knew it was Pony's harasser in the bathroom. Oh Lordy, did that sound horrible. What had happened to Ponyboy better not be what he was thinking of. Dallas almost shook with rage, but controlled himself, looking as stoical as he did usually.

A yawn coming from the hallway suddenly shut everyone's mouth closed. A very exhausted-looking Ponyboy wobbled in unsteadily from his and Soda's bedroom, still in his pajamas. Steve's jaw actually dropped at the sight of the young teen and Two-Bit smiled daftly. The somber mood dissipated quickly.

"Glad you like my shirt so much, Pony," said Two-Bit wryly, still having the silly smile on his face. Ponyboy was, to be honestly put, _smoking _to Two-Bit now. The almost red head was currently wearing a cropped purple shirt that said 'kiss me' in bold, white letters and a pair of white boxers. The shirt, of course, was courtesy of Two-Bit (he had given it to Ponyboy for his birthday), but, unknown to Pony, Darry had read the riot act to Two-Bit after the green-gray eyed teen had went to bed.

"What?" Ponyboy mumbled confusedly, blinking a few times. He looked very disorientated, as if he had no collection of what had went on last night. In fact, he looked like he had no idea what he was doing now.

Two-Bit merely pointed at Pony's shirt, still smiling widely. Ponyboy blinked once again and attempted to piece together what the rusty hair colored man wanted. He looked between the wording on his shirt and Two-Bit. Oh, okay. He walked over to Two-Bit and leaned down, with the other greaser puckering his lips in anticipation.

However, two great forces stopped them:

Darrel and Sodapop Curtis.

"Over my dead body," spoke Darry lowly, glaring daggers at Two-Bit as he held up his fist menacingly to the nineteen year old. Soda gently escorted his younger brother away from Two-Bit, shooting said greaser nasty and intense looks as he did so.

"Don't pay any attention to Two-Bit, honey. He's just a nasty ol' pervert after young boys," said Soda, pushing Ponyboy in the direction of their bedroom. Man, if Ponyboy didn't seem to have any recollection of last night and tried to kiss Two-Bit, he must be sleepwalking or something.

Two-Bit stuck out his tongue at the dark gold blonde and stood to follow them, but when Dally 'accidently' stuck his foot out in front of the gang member, he tripped and fell flat on his face. Steve and Dally instantly burst into laughter, with Johnny smiling shyly and Darry grinning.

"Hardy har har," said Two-Bit, pushing himself up off the ground. He stood up again and took a step, but _Darry_ had stuck out his foot this time. Two-Bit went down. Dally and Steve cracked up again, and even Johnny let out a chuckle.

When Two-Bit looked up at Darry with a phony horrified face, questioning him silently, Darry shrugged and simply replied, "It's what you get after trickin' my little brother."

"I didn't do nothin' to him, man! He got the wrong idea!" exclaimed Two-Bit in frustration, burying his head in his arms. He didn't even bother to get up this time, in fear of getting tripped once more.

Steve scoffed; raising his eyebrows at the man sprawled on the floor. "Like you didn't want that to happen, you pedo."

"Well . . ." Two-Bit drawled as he smirked boyishly. His smirk was wiped off his face when he felt a harsh kick land in his stomach. He grunted, rolling over to see who had hurt him as he held onto his belly in pain. Dally looked away, whistling very suspiciously.

As Two-Bit glared at Dally intensely, Soda stepped into the room with an odd expression on his face. His eyebrows were furrowed and he frowned deeply, looking puzzled. "What was that all about?" he asked, plopping himself on a chair.

The other gang members shrugged, some appearing a bit nervous while others were totally relaxed. No one, however, was quite as worried as Soda was.

"I mean, he walked in like he was still dreamin'. I don't think he even remembered what went on last night. Maybe he was sleep walkin' . . ." trailed off the dark brown-eyed man, frowning even more.

"He'll be okay, little buddy. I'm sure he'll be back to himself later," Darry said, laying a comforting hand on his younger brother's shoulder. Soda sighed tiredly, resting his head against Darry's arm.

Johnny nodded sagely while chewing on a piece of toast slowly. "I agree with Darry. You know Pony; he'll be back to his sassy little self in no time."

After Johnny's comment, there was absolute silence. Soda then took a good look around the room and asked confusedly, "Uh, why is Two-Bit on the floor?"

Soda's question was met with a variety of answers, ranging from "They're evil I tell you, evil!" and "The pedo deserved it!" The morning then continued to move on smoothly. Well, until Ponyboy woke up again, that is.

"Hey, sweetheart, you feelin' alright?" Soda asked the moment he saw Ponyboy enter the living room drowsily. The youngest of the gang was – unfortunately for the elder Curtis brothers – still in his pajamas.

Ponyboy turned his head toward Soda and nodded briefly before he sat down on the couch next to him. Soda immediately placed his brother on his lap, cuddling him, not caring that the rest of the gang (minus Darry, who had left to go to the grocery store, and Dally, who had just gotten up without saying anything and left a short while ago) could see them.

"Soda, you're babyin' me," whined Pony in embarrassment, trying to untangle himself from the dark blonde's tight and loving hold. Soda, however, didn't budge, instead kissing Ponyboy's forehead.

"Well, it's not my fault you're my itty-bitty, baby brother," teased Soda mockingly, but then his tone turned serious and he said, "Are you seriously okay? 'Cause you woke up earlier and did somethin' real funky."

"Funky?" repeated Two-Bit in mock anger. Everyone's attention snapped to him, which Two-Bit was glad for. "Almost kissin' me is most definitely _not_ funky!"

Ponyboy scrunched his nose in distaste, sticking his tongue out. "Ew, you mean I almost kissed that no good hood over there?" The rest of the gang laughed, except for Two-Bit, who continued to pout. Then Ponyboy said something that made all the laughter stop cold. "But I don't remember what happened. I didn't even know I'd woken up before."

A pause lasted for a few seconds, but they felt like minutes to everyone in the room. Johnny then decided to pipe up, and he said, "Do you remember last night? At all?"

At first, Ponyboy hesitated. He remembered exactly what had happened in vivid detail; it was sickening to even think about it. But he just couldn't tell the gang. He couldn't tell anyone. He just couldn't. "Oh, I remember that," he said quietly, his voice subdued.

Soda's arms were instantly wrapped around his younger brother's lithe body, holding him protectively. "You mind tellin' us what happened? You were awful upset."

Ponyboy gulped, racking his brains for the perfect lie to tell. "The m-movie was just real sad, Soda. Reminded me of some bad memories," Ponyboy said, his eyes wet. It may or may not have been on purpose.

The sympathetic look on his elder brother's face spoke volumes, especially when he saw Ponyboy's eyes watering. Soda could have just melted on the spot. "Oh, honey. It's okay, baby, you're okay." He squeezed Ponyboy so tightly that the almost red head could barely breathe.

Johnny narrowed his eyes at the scene, knowing full well that this wasn't the case. He'd ask Ponyboy later, because if he voiced the truth out loud right now, hell might break loose. He put on a poker face and looked at Steve and Two-Bit's faces. Two-Bit was pointedly frowning, looking baffled. Steve gazed at Ponyboy and Soda thoughtfully, although he was frowning also.

Then the door slammed shut. Ponyboy looked at it and tensed upon seeing that it was his eldest brother. Soda felt the shift in movement and tried to soothe Pony with calming words, but to no avail.

Darry set to the kitchen to put away the groceries right away, not even sparing the people in the room a simple glance or a hello. When he was done and walked into the living room, the tension was so palpable you could cut it with a knife. Ponyboy stood and sprinted off to his and Soda's room the moment Darry came in.

"Pony!" called out Soda, about to run after his younger brother. However, Darry's hand on his shoulder stopped him, silently telling him that he'll go.

When Darry walked into the bedroom, his eyes grew sad. Ponyboy was currently lying on the bed, hiding his face with a pillow. Darry shuffled in and sat down on the bed, right next to Pony. The younger male attempted to crawl away, but Darry held Ponyboy's thin legs down.

"Ponyboy," began the oldest Curtis brother a bit sternly, although his tone also included sincerity and sorrow, "I-I didn't mean to upset you last night. You gonna tell me what'd happened before that?"

Ponyboy shook his head as best as someone with a pillow over their head could. Darry sighed and grabbed the bolster, throwing it aside. Frantically, Pony tried to cover his face, but Darry had already seen the upset expression on his youngest brother's face.

"I ain't gonna get mad at you again. I'm s-sorry, okay? Now come here." Darry barely finished speaking before Pony pounced on his eldest brother, hugging him tightly. Darry smiled softly, wrapping his own arms around Ponyboy.

"I'm sorry, Darry," mumbled Ponyboy. All he wanted was some comfort and love from Darry for once. Besides, it's not like his eldest brother apologized for something he did every day. He rested his head against the broad shouldered man's chest, nuzzling the elder one. Pony sighed contentedly and closed his eyes as Darry gently rocked him back and forth.

The two stayed in their embrace for a while, just holding one another in undisturbed serenity. They both found the silence welcoming and a nice change, even though both were habituated to loud and boisterous noises. However, it didn't last for a long time.

"Aw, ain't that just the cutest thing you guys have ever seen?" snickered Two-Bit from the doorway. Soda, Steve, and Johnny all popped up from behind the facetious greaser, peering inside the room. Johnny had a sweet and small smile, Steve had a smirk, and Soda . . . well, he wouldn't be Soda if he hadn't rushed in and tackled his brothers in a bear hug.

"Oof! Soda!" Darry upbraided, now lying down on the bed with a tittering Ponyboy and an overenthusiastic Sodapop on top of him. He grunted, but to make matters even worse, Two-Bit, Steve, and Johnny (the former two had dragged the latter) had dog piled on him. Hooray.

Darry had immediately attempted to get the others off him, but to no avail. However, when he had seen Two-Bit's hand accidently graze a certain part of Pony that should never, ever be touched (according to Darry, anyhow), the tallest gang member had exploded. He had threatened Two-Bit that he may lose something precious to him (which may or may not be his beer) if he continued acting like this towards Pony. To say that Ponyboy was just embarrassed and that Two-Bit was just terrified were the biggest understatements of the month.

After that amusing display, everyone had disbanded. Darry had went into his room to look over the bills, Soda and Steve had went God knows where, and Johnny, Two-Bit, and Ponyboy all decided to go out and eat at the Dingo's.

"Hehe, sorry about earlier, Pony," Two-Bit chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. It was only a miracle that Soda hadn't seen that and that Darry hadn't killed him.

Ponyboy cast his gaze down, not looking at his companions. "It's alright, Two-Bit," he replied. However, it wasn't really alright. Pony still felt a bit nervous around the nineteen year old, even though it had been an accident. The incident from last night still haunted him.

Johnny eyed Ponyboy suspiciously, putting a cozy arm around the younger greaser's waist. Pony laid his head on top of Johnny's shoulder, comforted by the tanned teen's presence and touch. The two knew each other extremely well. Too well for Ponyboy's liking.

The three continued their walk, with nothing feeling out of the ordinary. However, as they hit the busier streets, complications started to arise. At first, Ponyboy felt the stares of many others on him. This, he could handle. Then they started to wolf whistle and catcall at him.

And Two-Bit and Johnny definitely noticed that.

"Are . . . are they whistlin' at you, Ponyboy?" asked Two-Bit rather seriously, not in a mood to be messed around with. His fists clenched tightly as he growled angrily at the people who passed by. The gang member moved closer to Pony, only standing a few inches away from him now.

Ponyboy shrugged, trying to make himself appear smaller as he hung close by his two friends. Unfortunately, this did nothing to stop the calls. In fact, they even seemed to increase as they arrived at the Dingo.

"Hey, baby, nice legs. What time do they open?" a greaser called out, eyeing Ponyboy with a lustful expression. Ponyboy shivered, clinging closer to Johnny as he heard a chorus of wolf whistles and chuckles.

Two of the gang members (cough Johnny and Two-Bit cough) immediately whipped their heads to look at the other greaser. Johnny glared at the man with such a hateful expression while Two-Bit turned an outrageous shade of red, calling him every name in the book along with flipping him the bird.

"Don't let him go off on his lonesome for one second," whispered Two-Bit very softly to Johnny so Ponyboy couldn't hear them. The dark haired teen nodded energetically, linking arms with Pony, who was shaking slightly.

The three sat down in a booth, now waiting for their waitress to arrive. However, as Two-Bit looked around sharply, he saw exactly how much attention Ponyboy garnered. And he didn't like it. He rued bringing Johnny and Pony here. Why couldn't have Soda or Darry come with them? They'd surely set everyone in here straight.

"Ponyboy, do _not_ pay any attention to them," commanded Two-Bit in an incredibly stern tone, looking Pony directly in the eye. Ponyboy nodded, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He knew exactly who 'them' was.

The waitress then showed up, who took their orders quickly and came back with their food just as fast. The three soon forgot all about the other people, just enjoying themselves as they teased and joked around with each other.

It didn't last for long, though.

When the trio finished their meal, they stood up from their spots and stretched. Ponyboy accidently knocked over his empty cup and leaned down to retrieve it, rolling his eyes as Two-Bit teased him for being ungainly.

And then it happened.

Someone had _slapped _Ponyboy. On the behind.

The restaurant turned eerily silent after that, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. The greaser from behind Pony smirked dangerously, staring at Pony's gaping expression with satisfaction. Then _wham! _All of a sudden, the man was knocked into a table.

Two-Bit stood in front of Ponyboy protectively, still holding up his fists and glowering at the other greaser with absolute enmity. "You son of a bitch!" Two-Bit roared. "Do you even _know _who his big brothers are? You are one lucky bastard that they're not here!" With that, Two-Bit wrapped an arm around Ponyboy's hip and hauled him out of there, dragging Johnny along with him.

"Fuckin' moron!" snarled the rusty hair colored greaser in rage. "Did he really think he'd get away with that? Not with any of us around he ain't!" Two-Bit then turned to Pony, his demeanor taking a complete 360. "You okay, sweetheart? I'll call Superman and Soda to come here and kill him, if you want."

Ponyboy shook his head hurriedly, still shivering and his eyes still filled with trepidation. Oh God, the memories of last night were resurfacing. Oh, how Pony hated his retentive memory. "Please don't tell Soda and Darry. It's real embarrassin', Two-Bit. Please," he pleaded, which made the eldest greaser there sigh.

"Okay, okay," Two-Bit capitulated rather easily, but then he said, "Just tell your big brothers or anyone of us if this ever happens again. I don't want you gettin' hurt." He wrapped his arm around Pony tighter, glaring at everyone who even looked at the teen.

Johnny, on the other hand, stayed quiet and held a poker face. He glanced at Ponyboy, who couldn't seem to remain still to save his life. He thought of all the attention Pony received. He thought of last night.

And then it hit him.

Ponyboy acted _exactly _the same way as before.

Abruptly, Johnny swayed a little, instantly feeling nauseas. Golly, did . . . did something similar like this happen to Pony yesterday? It had had to have been worse, though, because the younger teen was a bit shaken up now, and last night he had been frightened out of his mind.

The bile in his throat rose higher.

However, Johnny had some peace of mind. Ponyboy still seemed okay with being touched, which was a huge relief. Johnny swallowed, keeping his nausea at bay. How could anyone even think of doing such an act, especially to such a young kid like Pony? The abhorrence in the tanned teen felt like boiling over, but he controlled the feeling. It would do no good to lose his temper here.

The trio arrived at the Curtis household much faster than any of the three expected. No one had even once whistled or done anything to Ponyboy on the way back, which was an excellent sign.

"So how was the Dingo?" greeted Darry when they stepped inside. There was no noise other background noise, so Steve, Soda, and Dally must not be here, Ponyboy noted.

"Great," Ponyboy lied partially. The trip had been fun, if you don't count all of the harassment against the teen and the fact that Two-Bit had punched someone. Otherwise, it had been quite good.

"But there was one problem," said Two-Bit steadily and seriously. Darry immediately fixed him with a narrowed gaze, noticing the other man's solemn tone. Ponyboy held his breath, watching Two-Bit with wide eyes. "The waitress wasn't blonde," he joked, which made Johnny frown, Ponyboy relax, and Darry crack a grin.

The rest of the day mostly passed by in a blur. Soda and Steve had arrived to the household a few hours later (it turns out that they had been in the park the whole time, just screwing around), but Dally was nowhere to be seen.

However, when Ponyboy had gone into his bedroom to read his book in peace, Johnny had shown up and locked the door.

"Johnny?" questioned Ponyboy as he put his book down on the bed, eyeing the other teenager and the door with confusion.

"I know what happened last night," Johnny said bluntly, sitting down on the bed beside Ponyboy. He avoided tackling the question with finesse because Pony would end up never telling him the truth.

The almost red head went cold instantly, averting his gaze from the dark haired male. "I don't know what you're talkin' about."

Liar. "Ponyboy, tell me the truth. Did someone touch you?"

Ponyboy's mouth went dry and tears started to fill his eyes. He stayed silent for a few minutes before he realized Johnny would know that the answer was yes, no matter how many times he said no. "Lordy, Johnny, yes." The dam burst and Pony fell into Johnny's inviting arms.

Johnny held Ponyboy as the teen cried into his shoulder, whispering soothing words of comfort. They stayed like that for a good five minutes before Ponyboy pulled away, wiping his eyes hurriedly.

"Thanks, Johnnycake. I really needed that," Ponyboy said, yawning once. He laid down on the bed, looking and feeling exhausted.

The older teen said nothing and, seeing how Ponyboy looked like he was about to fall asleep, stood up to leave the room. However, Pony reached out for his hand and pulled him back down on the bed.

"Can you sleep with me?" asked the green-gray eyed teenager shyly. Johnny was a bit hesitant at first, knowing how protective Soda and Darry were of Ponyboy, but then he nodded when he saw the almost red head begin to pout. Ponyboy needed him right now.

"Thank you, Johnnycake," mumbled Ponyboy drowsily as they both got under the covers. Johnny smiled a little bit as the other male snuggled to his chest, and he himself threw an arm over Pony. They fell asleep in that position, both comfortable and content.

* * *

><p>"I'm worried for him."<p>

"I know you are, little buddy. He'll tell us eventually."

"But Dar, what if he never does? Me and you both know how he likes to keep things a secret."

"We'll just have to trust him. Or force it out of him. Whichever comes first."

". . . He's real beautiful."

"He is, ain't he? He looks more like Mom than Dad."

"Darry."

"I know. I know what you really meant. We'll have to keep an eye out for him."

". . . I get to beat whoever touches Pony, right?"

"Sure, but you gotta get in line behind me and the rest of the gang."

"Nu-uh, you better believe it when I say I'll be the first one."

"I don't doubt you, Soda."


	5. Red Light

"Hey, Pony, what are you – JESUS CHRIST!" Two-Bit's shrill yell pierced through the otherwise quiet house. Steve almost dropped his glass cup in shock, Darry furrowed his eyebrows, wondering what Two-Bit was yelling about now, and Soda immediately sprinted down the hallway towards his and Pony's room.

"Two-Bit, what's wro – JONATHON CADE!" screamed Soda, who sounded quite mad and surprised. Darry and Steve shared a perplexed look, both knowing that Soda almost never used anyone's full name, unless he was absolutely furious. The duo set out to where the others were, wondering what had happened.

And Darry saw what made them so upset.

There was Ponyboy, looking as innocent and heavenly as an angel, lying on his bed.

The problem? Oh, Johnny was there.

On the _same bed_ as Ponyboy.

But the worst part was that Johnny and Ponyboy were snuggling next to each other, Pony cuddled into the tanned teen's chest with Johnny's arm wrapped tightly around the younger one.

Darry felt his face heat up and he clenched his fists at his sides, his mind instantly jumping to conclusions. Steve, knowing how bad this situation looked, immediately jumped into action and held the eldest Curtis brother back. Darry struggled a bit in his grip, but otherwise he stayed rather cool.

Darry didn't need to be the one restrained.

Soda did.

The middle Curtis brother ran over to the bed before Two-Bit could catch him. Soda literally yanked a shocked Ponyboy by his arm out of the bed, and he also grabbed a petrified Johnny, tugging harshly on his ear. His face was twisted into such an angry scowl that everyone wondered where the hell had the real Soda gone.

"What were you two doing?" hissed Sodapop, still latching tightly onto the two youngest gang members. Ponyboy stared at his older brother as if he was an alien, and Johnny was so terrified he was shaking.

"Nothin', Soda! We were j-just sleepin' together!" exclaimed Ponyboy, looking at his brother with honest and innocent eyes. Steve and Two-Bit both face-palmed at the wording selection, even though they both knew for sure nothing had happened between Johnny and Ponyboy. Pony wouldn't say they were 'just sleeping together' if they had actually_ slept_ together.

Soda tightened his grip on the two, knowing how well Pony excelled in lying. He turned to look at Johnny with a fierce gaze, which made the tanned teenager flinch. "Were you – I mean did you two do anythin'?"

Johnny shook his head fervently, his eyes as big as tennis balls. He knew what 'anything' implied. "N-no, sir! N-not without yours and D-Darry's permission!" he replied honestly, shaking slightly.

The dark blonde meticulously studied Johnny's face, trying to find any hint of a lie. When he found none, his expression softened and he let go of them. Soda, now that his angry haze was over, saw exactly how scared Johnny was of him.

"Sorry, Johnnycake," apologized Sodapop sheepishly. "I guess I was a little too hard on you. Wanna make amends?" He held out his hand, which Johnny reluctantly took in a handshake.

"A _little_?" boggled Ponyboy. He put his hands on his hips, staring at his elder brother with a disapproving and unimpressed gaze. When Soda's like that, it's horrible. Almost as worse as Darry.

Soda then turned back to his little brother, pouting as he held his arms out. "Sorry, baby. I should've believed you in the first place. Now come here and give your big brother a hug."

As Ponyboy nodded in agreement, Soda held his arms out even wider, anticipating for Ponyboy to embrace him. Instead, Pony walked over to Darry, giving the muscled man a tight hug around his waist. He looked at Sodapop and stuck out his pink tongue.

The man with the coffee colored orbs gaped at the almost red head, questioning him with his facial expressions. As a response, Ponyboy merely raised an eyebrow and said, "You said big brother, not _which _big brother."

Two-Bit let out a howl at the same time Steve smirked, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "Smartass kid." Johnny smartly decided to keep a poker face as Soda began pouting and as Ponyboy smiled smugly. Darry chuckled lowly, encircling his arms around his youngest brother.

Soda looked at Darry pleadingly, trying to get him to reason with Ponyboy to hug him. However, all Darry did was shake his head, the corners of his lips tugged up in an amused smile. Soda huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I can take a hint; I can see where I'm not wanted!" Soda exclaimed, sticking his nose up in the air in a fake haughty manner. He took a few steps, about to exit the room.

Ponyboy sighed, rolling his eyes at the actions of his blonde brother. ". . . Fine. C'mere, Soda," he gave in, letting go of Darry and taking a step away from him. Soda leaped into his arms faster than you could say 'over protective.'

Darry cleared his throat after a few minutes of awkward silence and Sodapop squeezing the life out of Ponyboy. Soda dropped his younger brother at the sound and glanced at Darry, smiling innocently.

The eldest Curtis brother rolled his eyes and said, "Ponyboy, it's time for you to go to sleep; you have school tomorrow. Soda, that'd be ideal for you, too. For the rest of you, I don't care, just don't wake me up. Good night." With that, Darry exited the room and presumably headed towards his own.

"Okay, you heard the boss. Scurry along, you three," Soda said almost a little too eagerly, pushing his friends out of the room hurriedly. He ignored their protests, shoved them out the door, and yelled, "Good night!"

Ponyboy sighed when Soda latched onto him again, holding him tightly. Did his brother understand the concept of personal space? He shrugged off the dark blonde, ignoring the hurt expression on Soda's face, as he said, "I can't believe what you did earlier, Soda."

Soda pouted, reaching out for another hug, but Ponyboy vetoed his advances. "I didn't like Johnnycake lyin' in bed with you, alright?" he half-mumbled, his point pithy. He looked down, his cheeks a light tinted pink.

"Why? It's not like Johnny and I were doing anythin'; I'm only fifteen," said Ponyboy, his tone and expression clearly puzzled. Soda could be so confusing when he wanted to be.

The dark brown-eyed man smiled a bit, ruffling his little brother's hair affectionately. "Oh, you have no idea how happy you make me when you say that. You should tell Darry that, he'd be so relieved he might start cryin'," joked Soda. Then he turned serious and added, "I-I just don't wanna see you grow up too fast or be pressured by others, that's why. You'll always be my baby."

Ponyboy smiled sweetly, wrapping his arms around his elder brother. He snuggled into his shoulder lovingly and said, "I love you. You'll always be my big brother, you dig?"

"I dig real good, Ponyboy," Soda said, his eyes tearing up slightly, but he blinked them back. He's been waiting for so long to say this, and it feels _so good _to know that Pony will wait. After a few minutes, he then said, "We should probably get to bed now."

"I know. I just wanna hug you some more."

* * *

><p><em>My life sucks, <em>thought Ponyboy bitterly as he rapidly walked out of the blue-painted building. He weaved his way through the crowd, frowning deeply as he continued to think.

The reason for Ponyboy's gloomy thoughts? Oh, they were from his 'absolutely fantastic' day of school.

Earlier that day, Pony had been in Math, minding his own business. Then, out of nowhere, the Soc behind him had clamped onto his arm so harshly that it left a bruise. The Soc had furiously whispered to him about how he didn't appreciate Ponyboy vomiting on his friends, and that he'll be in big trouble soon. The green-gray eyed teen had been so distraught by that, that he had spent almost the whole school day worrying over it. And, of course, he had received way too much attention still. However, Johnny had tagged around with him a good majority of the day (Ponyboy had made Johnny swear not to tell anyone about what had happened to him, so the dark-eyed teen had made himself Pony's guard dog to spite/protect him).

But one of the worst parts of the day?

Johnny, sweet and shy Johnnycake, had gotten into a fight with another boy.

_Over Ponyboy. _

The youngest two of the gang had been in the hallway, with Johnny escorting Ponyboy to class since he refused to let him walk by himself. And the next thing Pony knew, he was pinned up against the wall, some middle class student touching him inappropriately. Then, as quick as he came, the other teenager had been pulled off him.

Ponyboy clearly remembers the enraged look on Johnny's face, his eyes tiny slits as he had glared daggers at the other boy with such intensity that Pony had never thought in a million years that Johnny could pull off.

But he had.

And it had startled him beyond belief.

Ponyboy also remembers the two yelling, but he couldn't recall what they had shouted; he had been too preoccupied staring at Johnny. Then, the dispute had risen into a brawl. Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly), Johnny had thrown the first punch.

That's why the tanned teen was now sporting a black eye, a profusely bleeding cut on his lip, and why his clothes were torn and disheveled. He was currently walking behind Ponyboy, the former trying to catch up with the speeding teen.

"Pony, wait up!" Johnny cried as he still ran, panting ever so slightly.

The almost red head stopped in his spot, and turned to face his supposed best buddy as he crossed his arms over his chest. "What?" he hissed, frowning as he looked at Johnny with dislike.

"I know you're mad at me now, but-"

"Mad at _you_? What could have _possibly _given it away? The fact that I tried to run from you, or because I'd been avoidin' you today?" asked Ponyboy sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Johnny's eyes narrowed the tiniest bit. He frowned. "What was I supposed to do, huh? Let 'im touch you like that while I just stood there, doing nothin'? Naw, no way, man. I'd be outta my mind before that ever happens."

"Why'd you have to get into a fight then? Don't even argue 'bout that, I know you started it first, Johnny Cade! You couldn't have just told him to back off, could you? Nooooo, you just _had _to prove how tough you are and start beatin' him, am I right?"

"Look who's talkin'! You didn't even tell him to get off you or nothin'! You just stood there and took it, like you couldn't do anythin'! You gotta tell 'em that you won't stand for that, Ponyboy! Then they'll leave you alone!" shot back Johnny, who was now up in Pony's face.

Ponyboy opened his mouth, about to say something about Johnny's parents and how he wasn't the only hypocrite, but then Two-Bit came running to them. He shut his mouth, suddenly afraid about the elder gang member finding out about his harassment problem.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Cool it, kiddos. You two are fightin' like greasers and Socs! What's the problem?" Two-Bit asked, slinging his arms around both of their shoulders. He gently guided them away from the crowd that had gathered to watch them.

"Johnny got into a fight," blurted Ponyboy before he could stop himself. His eyes got big. Golly, now Johnny could Two-Bit exactly _why _he had gotten into a wrangle! Damn, he should really think things over before he says anything.

But Two-Bit just grinned amusingly, his eyes sparkling and his eyebrow raised as he turned to look at the black-haired teenager. "Got into a fight, huh, Johnnycake? I knew you had it in you!" Two-Bit gave Johnny a noogie, mussing up his hair.

"Yeah," mumbled Johnny lowly, now staring at the ground. He wanted to burst and tell Two-Bit why he had gotten into a fight, but he just couldn't. He couldn't reveal Ponyboy's secret after he promised he wouldn't.

The trio headed towards Two-Bit's rusty and old car, all of them staying silent. Two-Bit looked between the almost red head and the tanned teen in confusion. He saw how badly Johnny and Ponyboy had been fighting – which almost _never_ happens – and wondered what _exactly _about Johnny's fight had to do with their argument. However, he stayed quiet, thinking that it might do more harm than good if he started asking.

"How 'bout I take you two to the DX to see Soda and Steve?" offered Two-Bit, hoping that this will help the two youngest of the gang forgive one another. He hopped into the driver's seat as Ponyboy and Johnny sat in the back.

"Fine," said Pony in a cold tone. He looked at the things inside the car, stared at his hands, peered outside the window – he looked at everything but Johnny.

The car ride to the DX was so unbearably quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Two-Bit said nothing funny like he usually would, since he sensed the tension between the two. However, he looked back occasionally to check if they were getting along. Nothing changed, unfortunately.

When they arrived at the gas station, Ponyboy sprinted out of the car without sparing a glance to the other two greasers. He immediately rushed inside to meet his brother, who was currently standing by the cash register doing nothing.

"Hey, Pony! Whatcha doing here?" asked Soda happily, bouncing up and down as he greeted Ponyboy by mussing up his hair.

The green-gray eyed teenager shot the pert man an irritated look before fixing his hair. "Two-Bit drove me and Johnny" – he frowned here – "from school," he explained, gesturing towards the duo that were entering the store.

"Hey guys!" Soda shouted, waving at them joyfully. He smiled brightly at them, glad for the company of some of his friends.

"Soda! Where's ol' Stevie?" asked Two-Bit, who grinned widely and gave Soda a huge pat on the back.

"He's workin' on a car right now," replied Soda, wincing from the pain due to the pat. He got even with Two-Bit and gave him a rather rough, yet playful, punch to the ribs. The rusty hair colored man stuck out his tongue at him, but Soda ignored him and turned to Johnny. He took one good look at the tanned teen and immediately asked, "What happened to you, Johnnycake?"

As Johnny opened his mouth to respond, Two-Bit interrupted and exclaimed, "He got into a fight with some guy, didn't you, kiddo?"

Johnny nodded, wearing a serious expression on his face. Soda's eyes widened in surprise, but then he grinned cockily and said, "I bet you got 'im real good, Johnny. You need an ice pack for that eye?"

"Nah, I'll be alright," answered the dark-eyed greaser quietly, still avoiding looking or talking to Ponyboy. The latter did the same, although he was relieved that Johnny said nothing about his harassment. Maybe Johnny wouldn't rat him out.

The four of them continued to chat for quite a bit before Ponyboy felt the urge to smoke. He went outside, choosing a secluded spot by some trees, and lit a cigarette, just watching the milieu peacefully, deep in thought, as he puffed.

Then, a hand reached out and stole his cigarette right from his mouth. Ponyboy snapped out of his thoughts and attempted to retrieve the fag, looking up at the person as he did so.

Oh, God.

It was that Soc.

From Math class.

And his Soc friends.

"Hiya," said the Soc (who Ponyboy never bothered to learn his name, despite being in the same class as him for about a week). He smirked, taking a drag from the cigarette. "Want it back?" he said, waving the cigarette mockingly.

Ponyboy frowned pointedly and glared at them, making a grab for the roll of tobacco, but the other man held it higher, holding it way above his head, and smirked more as Pony jumped to try to reach it. His friends from behind him snickered.

"Ain't he just like a kitty?" one blonde Soc with gleaming eyes commented.

"A cute kitty with a great ass, yeah," another brunet Soc piped up.

Pony felt his face heat up, but those lewd comments didn't deteriorate his unflagging determination to try and reach the cancer stick. The Soc, however, was getting bored of this and threw the cigarette on the ground, stomping on it with his polished shoe.

"Enough of this. Now, didn't I promise how I was gonna make you regret pukin' on my friends?" he asked, moving closer and closer to the younger greaser. His cronies followed suit.

Ponyboy's breath hitched and he took a step back impulsively. He glanced at the Soc in front of him, eyeing his rather large muscles, and the other Socs behind him. There had to be at least three of them back there. Damn it.

The Soc roughly grabbed Ponyboy's chin, forcing him to look up into his sea-blue eyes. Pony really hoped that the fear he felt inside wasn't as obvious as it was on the outside.

The blue-eyed man smirked, taking one hand and rubbing it against the side of the almost red head's face. Inadvertently, the greaser shivered at the touch. He then tried to push the man away from him, but the Soc gripped onto his arms harshly, and threw him to the ground.

"HELP! SODA!" yelled Ponyboy desperately as he felt multiple hard kicks land in his side. He curled up into a ball, holding his knees protectively over stomach.

He heard the Soc curse before he shouted, "Shut him the hell up!" Then, Ponyboy felt his legs being forced away from his stomach and a white rag shoved in his mouth. His legs and arms were pinned to the dirty ground. He tried to scream, yell, kick, push, do anything, but he couldn't.

And, in the horror of it all, one of the Socs climbed on top of Ponyboy, hurriedly trying to unbutton his blue jeans. Ponyboy went rigid for a second before he began to wildly thrash around. No, no, _no, _this couldn't be happening to him again! He felt the beginning of tears stinging his eyes, but he blinked them away.

Then, a miracle happened.

"Hey! What the _fuck_ do you idiots think you're doing?"

Ponyboy knew that voice as clear as day, but he still craned his head to see if it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him.

His mind wasn't fooling him. There stood the least likely person Ponyboy thought he'd see right now, standing in all his glory with his greased up clothing and swirled hair.

Steve Randle.


	6. The Cat's Out of the Bag

"I said, what the _fuck _do y'all think are doing?" Steve snarled as he walked closer to the Socs and his best friend's brother. He eyed the Soc on top of Ponyboy, his eyes slightly widening at that, before he turned his stare into a deadly and hateful glare.

Ponyboy, who was beyond relieved to see Steve, attempted to yell out to his brother's best friend, but the cloth in his mouth said otherwise. Hearing the muffled noise, Steve set his gaze on Ponyboy's face. When he saw the rag in his mouth, the greaser growled once more.

The blue-eyed Soc – the one from Pony's Math class – stared at Steve with a mixture of irritation and disdain. "This is none of your business, grease. Now, scram," he said.

If possible, Steve's glare seemed to grow with even more animosity. His lips were twisted in an angry scowl, and his eyes were narrowed dangerously. He was _not_ someone to be messed with right now. "None of my business? The kid's big brother's in there" – Steve pointed to the DX – "and if I get him, he'll whip y'all so hard y'all will be bawlin' for your mommas."

Ponyboy's breath hitched again. As much as he had wanted his brother earlier, he didn't want Soda to come out now that Steve was here. Soda didn't need to know about this. It would only cause him stress, and for him to use as an excuse to never let Ponyboy out of his sight again.

Pony heard one of the Socs scoff and shout to his friends, "I don't know 'bout y'all, but I ain't afraid of some big brother. Especially not one who's related to this menial, but good-lookin', greaser." Instantly, Ponyboy knew he was talking about him.

"You afraid of this, then?" asked Steve, who was oddly calm. All of a sudden, the Socs dropped him and headed for the hills. Ponyboy sat up slowly, wondering what Steve had that made the Socs disappear. He then remembered the cloth in his mouth, and grabbed the rag, throwing it away.

"You alright, kid?" asked Steve gruffly, holding a hand out as he looked down at the younger teen. Ponyboy looked up at him and gratefully took his hand, now in full view of the heater in the elder man's other grip.

Pony nodded leisurely, barely hearing Steve's question. All he kept his attention on was the gun in the man with the swirled hair's hand. Where had he gotten it, and why did he have it with him now?

At the same time, Steve was checking the almost red head's physique. There seemed to be no serious bruises or cuts on him, but he could be wrong . . . He then took a step closer to Ponyboy, squinting his eyes slightly, and saw something that made his eyes widen in absolute shock. What the –

"Ponyboy, why are your jean's unbuttoned and unzipped?"

Ponyboy went stiff for a second before he started shaking. Lordy, the memories, they were all flooding back at once. And not just the ones from a few minutes ago, but all the ones from last week, too.

It was absolutely horrible.

It seemed to be too much for the young teen. Ponyboy's lip wobbled before he could control himself and, before he knew it, the dam broke. He attempted to compose himself, not wanting to cry in front of Steve Randle of all people, but he failed rather miserably at that. Instead, the tears flowed freely down his cheeks.

_Oh, God, Steve must think I'm a big baby, _thought Ponyboy as he turned away from the older greaser, wrapping one arm around himself as he kept the other one close by his face, hurriedly trying to wipe away the evidence of tears.

Steve's face softened a bit. He didn't like the kid too much – sometimes he very strongly disliked him – but this was a lot for a fifteen-year-old to deal with. Steve wasn't stupid; he knew that Ponyboy was a victim of sexual assault – how far, he didn't know, but he hoped by not a lot.

He had to ask.

"Pony . . . how far, man?" Steve asked sadly, about to rest a hand on the younger greaser's shoulder, but he retracted it at the last second. Damn, he had almost forgotten that people didn't usually like to be touched after something like this.

But Ponyboy shook his head fervently. He knew exactly what Steve wanted to know. "Please don't tell Soda and Darry!" he blubbered, turning around to face the elder man.

Steve shook his head. "No, I gotta tell 'em. They outta have a right to know. Now, how far?"

"No," Ponyboy said stubbornly, shaking his head even faster. No way in Hell would he ever tell Steve Randle what had happened to him, nor would he let him tell his brothers, who didn't deserve anymore stress.

Steve cussed under his breath, cursing Ponyboy's willful nature. "Ponyboy Curtis, tell me _right now _what happened or I'll go get Soda and call Darry!" he snapped, breathing heavily.

When he glanced at Pony, he instantly regretted shouting at the younger teen.

Shit. How could he forget Ponyboy hated to be yelled at?

Ponyboy gaped at him for a few moments before his eyes were filled with tears and – Steve wasn't very pleased to see this – fear once again. He rapidly turned around, not facing the other gang member, and let out more tears. And maybe a sob or two.

Steve took a deep breath, calming himself as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Listen, kid, I didn't mean to–"

"Hey, Randle, what the hell are you doing?"

As if Steve's life couldn't get any worse, Dallas Winston just had to arrive right now, at this very moment, when Ponyboy had started to bawl again. The tall and lean greaser muttered a few blasphemies under his breath, knowing how well Dally and Ponyboy had become situated with one another over the summer.

Steve was pretty damn sure he was cursed now.

Ponyboy gasped when he heard Dally's voice (who sounded a bit angered for whatever reason). He hadn't seen or talked to Dally _in days_. Abruptly, he wheeled himself around, facing his tow-headed friend. He forgot all about the tear streaks on his face.

Dallas took one good look at Ponyboy and was instantaneously holding Steve by the collar, raising his other hand in a threatening manner. "The hell, Steve? I knew you didn't like him, but what'd you _do _to him?" he asked angrily, gesturing towards the youngest one there.

"He didn't do nothin', Dal!" exclaimed Ponyboy, now realizing his mistake. He wiped the remaining tears off his face, now in a better mood since Dally was here. He had missed Dally quite a bit over the course of the past few days.

Ice blue eyes flickered to Ponyboy's honest face before returning to see Steve's rather pissed off one. Dally reluctantly released Steve, taking a few steps back. He didn't apologize as the lean greaser glared at him, rubbing his neck gently. Instead, Dally took out and lit a cigarette.

"Why've you been cryin', kiddo?" asked Dally, eyes trained carefully on his nicotine stick. Steve raised a silent eyebrow at the nickname; he'd never heard Dallas call Ponyboy 'kiddo' before.

"It was nothin'. Over somethin' stupid," mumbled Ponyboy in a sullen tone, belittling what had really occurred. He looked down at the ground, kicking a small rock he saw. He really, really, _really _hoped Steve wouldn't say anything about what had just happened. Maybe he'd be understanding for once.

"You call gettin' touched stupid?" Never mind, Ponyboy knew he had gotten his hopes up for nothing.

Pony averted his gaze up cautiously, and looked up to see the blonde's reaction. Dally seemed to have been rooted to the spot, his hand still holding up his cigarette in the same way he had a minute ago whilst he just stood there, doing nothing. He was just frozen, like his usual ice blue eyes.

"Ponyboy," Dally said in a dangerously low and placid tone. The green-gray eyed teen in question gulped, suddenly feeling terrified and nervous of his friend, "what did I tell you 'bout this?"

"Wait," said Steve slowly, either not caring or oblivious to Dally's new mood, "you mean this has happened before?" Steve shot Ponyboy a look, which made the latter glance down at the ground again, now even more abashed and anxious.

Dally sent the eighteen-year-old greaser a look that said 'shut-the-fuck-up', which Steve immediately recognized and understood. "Answer me, Ponyboy," he said, staring at the young teenaged beauty with such a grave and intense stare.

"You told me to tell you first if it ever happens again," Ponyboy mumbled, his voice barely above a whisper. He knew if he said anything asides from the truth, Dally would've been all over him. His lip trembled again, but he bit it down. Hard.

The blonde man nodded, now turning to face Steve with his unwavering stare. "What happened." It was not a question, but a demand.

"I found him with three – no, four – Socs on top of him. I scared 'em away with your heater, which, by the way, do you want back? Here you go, so anyways, the kid was shakin' and everythin', and then I saw his clothes were messed up and his jeans were . . . unbuttoned," Steve explained, gulping. He wasn't sure how Dally was going to respond to the last part, but he knew his response would be something awful.

And Steve was right.

Not only was his response awful, but Dally had erupted.

Like a volcano.

"WHAT?" yelled Dally so loudly that he wouldn't be surprised if the whole state of Oklahoma could hear him. The eighteen-year-old shook with uncontrollable rage, his fists clenched so tightly to his sides that they were white. The fire lit inside was melting his icy eyes away.

Suddenly, Ponyboy found himself being dragged by Dallas painfully by the arm. He didn't even try to fight him, but he bit his lip from the aching grip. The tears welling up in his eyes, however, were not from pain. He knew exactly where Dally was headed.

"SODAPOP CURTIS, GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE NOW!"

* * *

><p>The whole gang was packed in the living room, with Darry sitting in his armchair, Ponyboy seated on the couch, looking nervous, Soda next to Ponyboy with an arm around him and looking worried, Dally pacing the floors, Johnny quietly seated on the floor, Steve with a half smug, half serious expression, and Two-Bit, who looked totally lost.<p>

"What's this about, Dally?" asked Darry, obviously vexed by having to leave work early – even though it had only been by twenty minutes. Dally had been with Ponyboy at the DX apparently, and had rushed for Soda to get out of work and call Darry. By the way Soda had been panicking about how furious Dally was, the eldest Curtis brother had thought someone had died and had rushed home, where he found no one dead.

Dallas glanced at Ponyboy sharply, sending him a silent message. The almost red head looked down almost immediately. "I think your little brother wants to tell you something," said Dally.

Everyone turned their attention to the youngest male in the room. Ponyboy felt his mouth go dry, as his cheeks blushed redder than a tomato. He opened his mouth to say something – anything – but found that he couldn't.

"C'mon, spit it out, kid," said Steve rather impatiently, but quieted down when Dally shot him a harsh glare. Sure, what he said could be considered insensitive, but he wanted to get this over with so Darry and Soda would know already. He didn't quite fancy the idea of what would happen to Pony if something even worse occurred to Ponyb – uh, he meant, what would happen to _himself _if something happened to Ponyboy and he hadn't told the Curtis brothers. Yeah, he meant _himself, _of course.

"I-I-I," stuttered Ponyboy, faltering. His palms were now sweaty and his body was shaking all over. He felt Soda's arm wrap tighter around him as he looked at anything except his brothers, not wanting to see their concerned gazes. He met Johnny's eyes for a brief second, and he knew that Johnny realized what was going on.

"You what, Pony?" Darry asked rather calmly. Even though no one had died, that didn't mean this wasn't serious. And if this wasn't serious . . . then Darry could always blame Dally.

Ponyboy gulped. He had to do this or Dally would tell them, which would be even worse. "I-I got touched," he mumbled, barely above a whisper. He didn't think anyone had heard him, but he could be wrong.

"Huh?" asked Two-Bit for everyone else, obviously perplexed. He had absolutely no idea why everyone was called for, let alone know what Ponyboy had said.

"I was touched," repeated Pony in a louder tone. He heard a gasp, which signaled that they had heard him. Tears were beginning to recollect in his eyes, but he desperately tried to rub them away.

For a minute or two, there was absolute silence. The gang (the ones who already didn't know this) took this moment to try to comprehend the meaning. Was Ponyboy only touched, or did he mean . . . ?

"I'm s-sorry," Ponyboy said mournfully. He attempted to stand up from the couch and walk away, but he was stopped. He felt a tug on his arm and saw Soda, who had slight tears glistening in his usually lively eyes, pulling him back down on the couch.

"There's nothin' to be sorry for. Now, come here, honey," said Soda gently, opening his arms wide. Ponyboy didn't need to be told twice. The green-gray eyed teen jumped into his elder brother's arms, holding onto Soda tightly as a new wave of tears rolled in. The blonde responded by embracing his brother fiercely, his grip becoming even tighter when he heard some sobs escape Pony.

Steve and Johnny shared a meaningful look, and both departed the house silently, not even slamming the door on the way out. Two-Bit sat there, stupefied. He had seen Ponyboy groped before, but, holy shit, the kid had had _more _than that done to him? What was Tulsa becoming? Dally, on the other hand, stood there for a few good minutes, listening and watching Pony sob, before it got to him and he left to get a drink in the kitchen. When alone, he leaned against the counter and rubbed his forehead. This . . . this was why he never got too close to people.

Then there was Darry. The one that the gang called 'Superman' was frozen solid, his imagination in control. The only thing that kept playing through his mind was that Ponyboy had been touched. Then, he imagined every horrifying scenario. He visualized the tears on his baby brother's face, the agony, the _pain. _He heard the shouts of "Soda! Darry! Help! Please . . ." run through continuously, but he could never stop it.

Each and every time, he failed to save Ponyboy.

Darry was ripped out of his intense illusion by the sound of Ponyboy's noisy cries and of Soda's soothing and soft murmuring. He shook his head for a moment and immediately erased the troubling and powerful thoughts.

"Ponyboy . . ." croaked Darry.

The youngest Curtis brother looked up at his eldest brother, pulling out of Soda's hug to try to reach for him. "Darry," whimpered Ponyboy, his bottom lip stuck out in a pout.

That was when the twenty-one-year-old leaped out of his seat and onto the couch. Without delay, Ponyboy jumped into Darry's welcoming arms, wrapping his arms tight around his brother's neck as he cried some more. He nuzzled into his chest, feeling particularly snug and loved.

Two-Bit decided to leave at that moment, because when Darry got all emotional and affectionate, it was definitely time to go. Dallas stayed, but he was in the kitchen, trying to block out the sound coming from the living room.

Jesus, what a mess.

* * *

><p>Hiccup. "D-Darry."<p>

"Shh, I'm right here, baby."

"I-I'm sorry."

"Ponyboy Michael Curtis, this is not your fault, so don't you dare think it is."

"But-"

"Ponyboy."

". . . Darry?"

"Yeah?"

". . . Can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Anytime, Pone, anytime."

"I love you, Dar."

". . . I love you too, baby."

* * *

><p>"Hey, Dal, do you – do you know if Ponyboy w-was-"<p>

"No." The answer was sharp and quick. Too sharp and quick. "He wasn't; he wouldn't have been lettin' you guys touch him so easily."

A sigh of relief. ". . . Dally, thanks for everythin', man."

A grunt. "For what?"

"You made Pone tell me and Dar what happened to him."

". . . So?"

"Just thanks for doing that."

". . .Where's Ponyboy, anyway?"

"Huggin' the life out of Darry. Hasn't let go of him in hours."

"How's Superman takin' it?"

"He was . . . he was real mad, but he's better now."

"Alright then . . . I'm gonna head out now . . . You know where to find me if the kid needs anythin'."

"Oh, don't worry, Dal. Trust me, we will."

* * *

><p>What I'm about to tell you guys is super important, so listen up.<p>

The **next chapter** will be **M rated**. I'm just saying this so you guys can find this story, or discontinue it if you don't like M rated fics. Either way, this story will definitely be **M rated**.

Alright, that's what I wanted to say. Happy readings (if you're going to read more fanfiction, of course)!


	7. I Need A Hero

Hey guys! I have two really important things to share.

I recently viewed this story's review section, and I saw how many comments have been accumulated! So then I got to thinking, holy crap, this is pretty close to 100 reviews! This, of course, gave me an idea.

I am going to do a **contest. **If this story receives **107 reviews** (because 100 reviews is totally clichéd XD), then I will give the **107****th**** reviewer** an Outsiders one-shot story of _their choice _about the pairing, the plot, etc . . . and post it on Fanfiction. Remember, that it will be a **one-shot only.** Plus, it would really help me out if any of you reviewers had an account so I could PM the winner about the story. Just saying, though.

Also:

**Warning: This chapter is rated M for a sexually graphic scene.**

* * *

><p>Ponyboy sighed, idly stroking the back of his hand. He looked up at the sky, admiring the majestic blue and orange hues as the sun peaked over the puffy, white clouds. He could stay here for hours, just watching the sunrise. The beautiful colors he would always get lost in helped alleviate some of his stress lately. The serenity was also a nice change compared to the busy and, occasionally, overbearing household.<p>

Recently, Ponyboy's life had taken a left turn when it should have gone right. Ever since his revelation from a few days ago, no one in the gang left him alone for one second, God forbid one minute. His brothers were especially clingy to him, demanding that he be home at a precise time they set. Both of them had even forced him to stay home from school the day after he had told them, and they told him to never, _ever_ be without at least one member of the gang. It was an annoyance to him, even if he appreciated how close he and Darry had become.

Luckily, he always had the colorful and mysterious sky on his side.

For the past few days, the green-gray eyed teen found himself sneaking out in the middle of the night or right before dawn just to watch the heavens above. He had no idea how he managed to get past the security of his brothers, but somehow, he had.

"Ponyboy, what're you doing here by your lonesome?" Ponyboy heard Johnny's concerned voice, and he turned his head to look at his best buddy. He and Johnny had apologized a few days ago, both admitting that they were wrong to bicker with one another.

"I'm just in front of the house, Johnny. No need to worry." Pony rolled his eyes, vexed by all the over protectiveness of the gang. They couldn't leave him be for just a couple of minutes, now, could they?

Johnny plopped down on the ground beside the almost red head. He looked up at the sky, staring at it in fascination and wonder. "Golly, ain't that pretty?" he asked in awe, completely transfixed.

The younger male nodded slowly, leaning against Johnny's side. He felt a sudden shiver rack through his body, and Ponyboy suddenly wished he had brought his coat with him. It was finally getting cooler outside. He wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad thing.

"C'mon, let's go in. You're freezin'," said the tanned teenager, nudging Pony to get up. Reluctantly, the shorter one stood up unsteadily, and made his way inside the house with Johnny beside him.

The duo arrived in the house and luckily, for Ponyboy, found no one up yet. Unfortunately, though, Ponyboy was hungry and wanted to eat, so he decided to make breakfast this morning. Therefore, he went into the kitchen and pulled the carton of eggs out of the fridge.

"You want some eggs, Johnnycake?" asked Ponyboy politely, gesturing towards the carton he held in his hands. He looked up at Johnny expectantly, watching as the older teen sat down at the table.

The dark haired teenager hesitated, his mouth slightly agape. He didn't want to be a bother, but he also didn't want to be rude and say no. Golly, manners were such a confusing subject to master . . .

As Ponyboy watched Johnny ponder over his choices, he rolled his eyes at his friend's attempt at civility and said, "I'm takin' that as a yes." He then turned to pull out a pan, and cracked a huge quantity of eggs on it.

"Anyone home?" a voice called from the doorway. Ponyboy instantly recognized it as Steve's, and he winced a bit. He still hasn't exactly forgotten that the elder man had yelled at him, but he was, for the most part, on okay terms with Steve. Actually, the tall greaser had made less than five glares at him the whole week, which was an improvement, Ponyboy supposed.

"In the kitchen! Don't slam the-" Ponyboy shouted, but he was interrupted by the door slamming shut. When Steve walked in, Pony put his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes, glaring moodily at him.

"Where's Soda and Superman?" asked Steve, looking around as if the two might pop out of nowhere. He pointedly ignored the way the younger greaser looked at him, which made Johnny slightly grin at the way Ponyboy's glare increased.

Pony then rolled his eyes and pivoted back to his original stance. He simply replied, "They're still sleepin'. I reckon Darry'll be up soon, though."

Right after Ponyboy said that, Darry walked into the kitchen. The muscled man took one look at his youngest brother and, upon seeing that he was cooking, grabbed the plates and set them out.

Beaming up at his eldest brother, Ponyboy said rather kindly, "Thanks, Dar." Then, he finished cooking the eggs and allotted the amount on each plate equally. He reached into a drawer next and pulled out a handful of utensils, laying them around the table.

Darry smiled softly, watching as the green-gray eyed teen set the rest of the table. Ponyboy was going to grow up to be so kind . . . He placed a gentle kiss on top of Pony's head, which made the petite male smile and embrace his brother.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Two-Bit's obnoxious voice came from the door, which efficiently killed the loving moment between the biggest and the smallest Curtis brothers. Before Ponyboy could even yell, the door was shut with a large bang. Pony sighed as he face-palmed. He didn't know why he even bothered anymore.

To his surprise, however, not only did Two-Bit come bouncing into the house, but Dally trudged in as well. While Two-Bit ran to the table at the sight of food, Dallas instead coolly walked over to stand between Ponyboy and Johnny. Dally ruffled the two youngest gang members' hairs as a sign of greeting them, which made Ponyboy instantly attempt to fix his hair.

The tow-headed greaser rolled his eyes and asked, "I'm gonna go to the Nightly Double tonight. Any of you wanna come?" He looked at Johnny and Ponyboy knowingly, not sparing the others there a glance.

"I do!" responded an overexcited and eager Two-Bit. He chomped on his eggs like he's never had a real meal before. Darry raised an eyebrow at the display, knowing full well how an enthusiastic Two-Bit in the morning was _very _unusual.

"I wasn't askin' you, clown," snapped Dally irritably. The greaser who he was referring to gasped overdramatically, clutching his hand to his chest. Dally pretended to ignore the facetious man.

"Can I go, Darry?" Ponyboy asked softly, trying to appeal to his brother in a cute way. He curved his lips into a smile a bit too sweetly, blinking a few times with his widened eyes.

Darry shook his head, giving his little brother a stern glance. "Ponyboy, I don't feel right about lettin' you go out . . ." After all, his brother had only been t-touched a few days ago. Wouldn't he be more comfortable at home? Not to mention the fact that there was a chance _anything _could occur to him. If it could happen at the DX, it could happen anywhere.

Ponyboy cursed in his mind. He really, really, _really _wanted to go out. It didn't matter that it was just to watch a movie; all he wanted was to get out of this forsaken house. "Please, Dar? Dally and Johnny'll be by me the whole time. I'll be real good, honest," he pleaded once more.

"Where're you plannin' on going, Pone?" inquired a sleepy voice from nearby. Everyone looked up to see Soda stumble into the kitchen, drowsily rubbing at his eyes. He yawned once and took a seat by Darry.

"I wanna go to the movies with Johnny and Dally. I can go, right, Soda?" Ponyboy questioned innocently enough, but he was really trying to play the 'Soda-lets-me-get-away-with-murder' card. He batted his eyelashes for extra effect as he pouted.

Soda took one glance at his younger brother and immediately looked down at his plate of eggs. No, he couldn't fall into the trap! He willed himself to not look at the teenager, but his self-control wasn't strong enough. He peaked at Ponyboy once more.

And positively melted on the spot.

"Aw, alright, honey," said Sodapop warmly. Ponyboy's bright grin made the blonde man smile, but when Darry gave him a rather bitter look, he attempted to redeem himself. "But don't stay out too long," he added sternly, wagging a finger at the green-gray eyed teen.

Steve snorted at the same time Darry face-palmed. The eldest Curtis brother really needed to give Soda a talk about how to receive more self-control and will, and to give Ponyboy a talk about how manipulation was no good for anyone.

"Thank you, Soda!" Ponyboy spoke with such genuine happiness and amiableness. He leaned over the table and gave his brown-eyed brother a gigantic smooch on his forehead. Soda flushed a bit and smiled rather dopily.

"What about me?" Two-Bit asked, pouting. He leaned on his chair, done with his breakfast. "Can't I go with you guys?"

Dally pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. "I don't give a damn if you come, Two-Bit," he said slowly, as if he was trying to explain this to a small child.

Two-Bit shrugged and shook his head. "Nah, I think I'll go get drunk instead." Almost in a way to prove his point, he stood up, went to the refrigerator, and pulled out a beer. He then popped the cap and proceeded to drink it.

Ponyboy stared at Two-Bit for a good minute, wondering if he hung around only with crazy people. Hadn't this been the same man who wanted to eagerly go at first? What the heck happened to him?

"Drinkin' that early in the mornin', huh? Tryin' to set a new record?" Steve asked caustically, rolling his eyes at the man with rusty sideburns.

Before Two-Bit could reply with something either witty or random, Darry interrupted and said, "We're gonna be late, you two." He looked at Soda and Steve here, but then he turned to Ponyboy and said, "Don't stay out too late. Call me if anythin' happens. See y'all later."

"Bye!" shouted Soda, giving Pony a half-hug around the shoulders and a kiss on his forehead. Darry leant down so Ponyboy could give him a short kiss on the cheek and a quick embrace. Steve, of course, just strolled out the door without saying anything.

"See y'all!" exclaimed Ponyboy. He watched the trio exit out the door before he spun around to face the others in the room. "So what do you guys wanna do?" he asked, dunking his plate in the sink.

Johnny shrugged and Dally just slumped down in an empty chair, putting his feet up on the table. Ponyboy rolled his eyes at what the blue-eyed man did, but did nothing to stop him. Two-Bit, however, was the only one to respond to the question.

"I'm gonna watch Mickey," he said simply, and sped off in the direction of the living room, clutching onto his beer tightly as he did so.

"What about poker?" Johnny suggested quietly after a brief pause. He looked between Ponyboy and Dally, trying to see their responses. They both nodded (well, technically, Dally shrugged, but it basically meant the same thing), and Ponyboy disappeared to go find the deck of cards.

". . . Hey, Dally?" questioned Johnny softly. Dally snapped his attention to him, silently urging him to go on. "You'd been gone for an awful long time. Where'd you go?" Johnny looked curiously at him, the thought having been on his mind the past few days.

The dark-haired teen noticed Dally stiffen just a tiny smidge. The frown on the blonde's face became slightly more prominent. "I was hangin' out at Buck's and with Shepard's gang. Y'know, the usual stuff," replied Dally, but then he shot back, "Why do you care?"

Johnny merely shrugged, sitting up in his seat. He could see that his friend was becoming defensive, and a defensive Dally meant that he didn't appreciate anyone else's nose snooping around in his business, and/or that he was hiding something. Something was definitely up with him.

Ponyboy arrived exactly on time after their little discussion, as if rehearsed. He held the deck high in the air, waving it. "Found it!" he proclaimed, and they sat down and played poker for quite awhile.

* * *

><p>"Did y'all like that movie?" asked Ponyboy, wrapping his coat around him tighter as they walked out the theater. Dally, Johnny, and Pony had went to see the movie without Two-Bit, who had declared himself busy with getting drunk and watching Mickey.<p>

"I've seen better," Dally commented, taking a pack of smokes from his pocket and lighting one of them. He offered some to the other two, although both declined, Ponyboy saying that he had his own cigarettes.

The trio walked a bit further down the street, and as Ponyboy stuck his hands in his pockets, he realized that there was no cigarette pack. He cursed under his breath, knowing that they had been there earlier.

"I'm gonna go check if I left my pack in the theater," said Ponyboy, turning around to run back to the movie house. Pony took one look at Dally's opposing face and Johnny's hesitant one, and calmly stated, "I'll be back real soon. I just wanna see if it's there."

Dally paused for a second before he scowled. "Make it quick."

Ponyboy immediately took off sprinting. If Dally said to make it quick, you'd better make it quick. Soon enough, Pony found himself at the theater with no problem. He scurried in and spotted the seats where they had been sitting in. He walked over to them and found the pack waiting for him below the chair. Snatching the cigarettes, the green-gray eyed teen ran out, but he accidently ran into someone.

Before Ponyboy could even mutter some sort of apology, the person he had bumped into leaned down in his ear and whispered lowly, "Hey, grease. You remember us?"

Shocked by the words, Pony looked up quickly and was absolutely startled and horrified. The blue-eyed Soc was back. With his friends right behind him.

Damn it, he hated his luck.

Ponyboy opened his mouth to yell, but a hand clamped over it. Then, unexpectedly, the young teenager found himself on the ground, being dragged by his arms towards a dark and impending alley. Pony thrashed around to try and escape, but to no avail as he felt multiple kicks land in his stomach and back.

"Hi, there," said a different blonde Soc, whose comment was innocent enough, but his tone of his voice wasn't. He roughly pulled Pony up, propping him up against the wall as he pressed against the petite male's form.

The only greaser there stood wide-eyed, watching all the leering faces with trepidation. He shook a bit as he felt hands wander up and down his body. Not again. _Not again. _Ponyboy frantically looked around, trying to contemplate how he would receive his freedom.

However, the Soc pressed against him had other plans. Abruptly, Ponyboy found his mouth encroached by an intruder. The unwanted kiss startled him, and he attempted to push the larger man off him, but the other was too strong. Therefore, Ponyboy did something else.

He clamped down on his attacker's tongue with his teeth. Hard.

The good thing? The elder male pulled out of the kiss, checking his tongue to see if it was bleeding.

The bad thing? Before Ponyboy could make his retreat, another Soc held him in place and punched him right in the eye.

He let out a yelp and found himself pushed against the wall once more. A different man took his friend's place, this one, however, whispering a clear threat to Ponyboy, "You bite me, you'll be in a world of pain, grease." Next, he began to furiously make out with the teenager, his hands meandering Pony's lithe body.

Then, before he even knew what was happening, Ponyboy found his jacket and shirt lying on the cold and filthy ground. He shivered as the Soc held him down, the cool air slowly freezing him in place.

Something next caused Pony to go into absolute hysteria.

Something _far worse _than having his shirt and coat not on him.

His pants were becoming unbuttoned and unzipped.

Ponyboy gasped rather loudly, his eyes the size of tennis balls and filled with such terror. The situation was crystal clear to him now, and it was _bad. _No, this was _beyond _bad. This was more than _horrible _even. The memories began resurfacing again, hitting him with such an unbelievable force. No. No, no, no, no, _no_! This wasn't happening. _This wasn't happening. _

He screamed at the top of his lungs, only at this moment realizing that his mouth wasn't covered. He flailed around wildly, wanting to break free. He wanted to leave so badly. He couldn't face this. _He just couldn't. _The Soc harassing him, however, backhanded him, leaving an angry, red mark on his face.

"Shut the fuck up!" The Soc yelled at him furiously, glaring at him with an expression that could only be described as loathing. The larger man managed to unbutton the greaser's pants and slid the jeans off, discarding them to the ground.

Pony was now only left clad in his underwear. The Socs made a myriad of catcalls at him, which made him flush a red as vivid as a tomato. He kicked the Soc in a place where the sun-don't-shine, causing the man to keel over in pain.

"You bitch!" he yelled as he bit his lip. The Soc had such an enraged and angry expression on his face that if Ponyboy hadn't been slightly miffed at being called a 'bitch', he would've been full out terrified. He was terrified, though, but not as much as he would've been.

Another Soc immediately slammed into Ponyboy, trapping him between the hard brick wall and the elder and much bigger male. Pony eyed the muscles on this man fearfully, noticing how much stronger and larger he was compared to his friends.

The Soc saw the terror on Pony's face and smirked widely. "You're gonna regret ever doing that," he whispered in a low and rather placid tone, smirking even wider when he looked at the way Ponyboy trembled.

The giant man pulled down Pony's last item of clothing, throwing it away. Ponyboy tried to cover himself and escape at the same time, which was much easier said than done. The almost red head opened his mouth to yell again, but something was thrust into his mouth before he could say one word.

Fingers. That's what was shoved in his mouth. Ponyboy almost choked on them, feeling the urge to vomit again. But he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to run away so easily this time, especially not in the nude. He sucked on them, grimacing as he did so. He was disgusted with himself for having to comply with these barbarians.

Then, the other male smirked lecherously and leaned down in Pony's ear once more. "I will _ravage _you." Suddenly, Ponyboy's knees were forced apart and a finger was shoved in harshly, plundering something considered precious to the teenager.

Ponyboy shrieked so loudly that not only all of Oklahoma could hear him, but Texas could, too. _Oh, God, why? What have I done wrong?_ ran through Ponyboy's thoughts as tears cascaded rapidly down his cheeks. He sobbed, not able to control himself. The pain_, _lordy,_ the god damned pain _was so excruciating. Another finger was added in, and then another. Pony continued to yell and scream at the Soc to leave him be, but for some reason, the man didn't even try to make Ponyboy stop yelling. Instead, he smirked for the millionth time.

He enjoyed it. He enjoyed his _motherfucking screams of his agony and torture. _

Ponyboy hated this man. Hated him more than anything in the world.

Then, multiple shouts and yells came from someone other than Ponyboy. The almost red head had no idea where they came from, though, because his vision suddenly became unfocused, and his mind became woozy and overwhelmed.

He blacked out, unaware to anything else in the world.


	8. Never

Dallas Winston was not a very patient man.

Anyone could see that. If someone were to pass by him right now, they'd see the audacious greaser restlessly tapping his foot, wearing a seemingly permanent scowl, and giving anyone who glanced at him a dirty look. However, the anxious looking teenager next to him didn't receive that treatment.

"He's been gone for a real long time. We should go lookin' for him," said Johnny in a worried tone. He sincerely hoped that nothing bad had happened to Ponyboy, especially considering the fact that Pony's still the 'little celebrity' with his attractive character. Golly, the eldest two Curtis brothers would hit the roof if they even only found out _half _of the things that had happened to Ponyboy.

Dally nodded stoically, throwing his cigarette to the ground and putting it out with his tattered shoe. "C'mon, let's go." He put an arm around Johnny's shoulder, hurriedly leading him in the direction of the movie theater.

When the duo sneaked into the movie they had been in, they found no sign of Ponyboy. Dally frowned while his darker companion put on an even more concerned expression. They eyed one another, both knowing how bad the situation looked. A fifteen-year-old, good-looking greaser, who's constantly harassed, out somewhere by himself in Tulsa, Oklahoma? It didn't look too good.

So Johnny and Dally decided to head out of the theater and loiter around for a bit, hoping to see any signs of Pony ever being around. After a good five minutes of searching, they disappointedly found nothing.

But that was before they heard an extremely familiar and close by voice screech in unadulterated anguish. Dally and Johnny didn't even have to glance at each other to know that that was Ponyboy. Instead, they sprinted in the direction of the screaming, the blonde muttering profanities the whole way while the black-haired one felt that something ominous was about to happen.

Unfortunately, the latter was right.

The two of them both arrived at a gruesome and heinous venue. There was young and virtuous Ponyboy, forced up against the brick wall with a Soc pressed firmly against him, touching him and doing something so horrendous to the teen that there were no words to describe it. Three other Socs were watching the scene, jeering and making catcalls.

And Dallas Winston saw red.

"You sons of motherfucking bitches!" roared Dally vehemently, his eyes blazing with enmity and unstoppable rage. Before Johnny could snap out of his abhorrence to control his buddy, the blue-eyed man leaped onto the nearest Soc he could catch. He hurled such a powerful punch that the Soc was knocked out by it immediately.

"The hell?" asked the angry Soc that stood by the prone one. Dally grabbed him by the collar before he could even say or do anything else, and knocked him out cold with three solid, good punches.

Johnny snapped back into reality when he heard the second Soc fall to the ground harshly, unconscious. He hastily took out the switchblade from his back pocket, holding it in a way so the two remaining Socs clearly saw it.

However, the Socs did not seem very concerned for their safety, regardless of the fact that they made no move to retrieve any weapons. They looked at each other cockily, the bigger one still molesting Ponyboy, who now seemed to be comatose, and the smaller one holding his fists up menacingly.

"Leave the boy alone and the rest of y'all don't get hurt," snarled Johnny in such an unusually cold and unforgiving tone. He almost lost his composure, wondering where the hell had that voice came from and where it's been all these years. He had mixed feelings about it.

"Naw, I like the position I'm in right now," said the muscled Soc, his smirk growing perverse and especially carnal. He used his only free hand (Johnny felt nauseated when he saw what the other hand was doing) and used it to gently caress Pony's face.

"Don't you fuckin' touch him!" Dally snapped furiously, and if looks could kill, that Soc would be six feet under right now. He bristled, having a lot of trouble controlling himself. But he couldn't lose his cool now, seeing as how these two would put up much more of a fight than the duo from earlier.

The man merely chuckled dryly, staring at Dally with an almost amused and curious gaze. Well, well, well, this was interesting. "Hmm, apparently you're either blind, or you can't see my other hand if you're gettin' worked up over that little touch."

Dallas shot him an even angered look, not appreciating being called 'blind'. However, he scrutinized the other man's appearance and tried to find his other hand. What the hell was he talking abo-

Holy shit.

_He fucking saw it. _

How the fuck did he miss it before, he had no goddamned idea. It was so obvious now, and he could barely tear his eyes away from the scene. He shook with uncontrollable animosity, his left eyebrow twitching madly. His glare, which had been terrifying before, was now a _trillion _times more frightening. The greaser was astonishingly petrifying and intimidating now.

To say that Dallas Winston was just angry was the biggest understatement of the century.

"LET HIM GO FUCKIN' RIGHT NOW BEFORE I FUCKIN' COME OVER THERE AND-" Dally just about exploded, letting out all of his pent up anger. He continued his rant with an incredible amount of cussing and foul language, his face very red and vexed.

"Nah, I'm good," was all the Soc replied, completely unfazed. He then leaned down to the still not very conscious Ponyboy and kissed him fiercely, letting out an exaggerated moan.

Dally lost it right there.

He pulled out his heater, aiming it at both of the Socs. Boy, did he wish that there were _actual _bullets in this thing.

However, both of the Socs (and Johnny, who was slightly shocked by the gun) froze anyway. The smaller one blanched, his face completely horrified and shocked by this revelation. The bigger one's eyes widened momentarily before they returned to their normal size.

"You gonna let him go before I blow your fuckin' brains out?" asked a rather composed and calm Dally. Although, his left eyebrow would occasionally twitch, this meaning that the rage was still there.

"Let's go, man. He's got a gun; it's not worth it anymore," said the blue-eyed Soc nervously, staring apprehensively at the heater firmly planted in the greaser's hand.

The muscled Soc hesitated for a second, but made up his mind when he heard Dallas cock his gun. "Okay, okay, fine. You fuckin' win," he scowled angrily, even though he did comply and dropped Ponyboy rather roughly. He and the blue-eyed Soc then ran off, neither of them stopping for their comatose friends.

Dally abandoned his gun on the ground, rushing to Ponyboy's side. Without even thinking about it, he took off his jacket and wrapped it around his younger companion, covering his nude form. Then, he sat down on the filthy alleyway ground and scooped up Pony so he was sitting on his lap. He put his arms around him and embraced him tightly, hoping this would send more heat to the freezing teenager.

"Johnny, go call the gang," ordered Dally in a no nonsense tone.

Johnny snapped out of his stupor once again at the commandment, blinking a few times. He nodded rapidly and hightailed it out of there, hurriedly looking for the nearest payphone.

When the tanned teen left, Dally laid Ponyboy on his chest, which, surprisingly, the still unconscious teen nuzzled into. Dally stared at Pony for a good few minutes, eyeing the newly formed bruises and scratches on the boy's physique. Who the hell could do such a thing, especially to someone as sensitive and beautiful as Ponyboy?

_People are fucked up, _thought Dallas angrily as he recalled the memories, frowning and clenching his fists. He then unclenched them when he remembered that Ponyboy was with him, safe for now.

Pony murmured something in his sleep, which made blue eyes flicker toward his face. He spotted the tear streaks and wiped them off with his thumbs gently, not realizing what he was doing. However, when he leaned down to kiss Ponyboy's brow, he was fully aware of his actions.

_What the hell am I doing? I can't do this, I'm Dallas fucking Winston. I care for nobody, and nobody cares for me. I have a rep to keep up. Besides, Soda and Darry'd have my hide if they found out I was feeling something for their kid brother, _Dally scolded himself in his mind, but he couldn't help but look at the green-gray eyed teen with a softer expression when he heard another whimper escape from him.

_Dammit._

* * *

><p>When the rest of the gang showed up, they were all distressed, especially the two eldest Curtis brothers. Johnny, when he had been on the phone, hadn't told them what had really happened, just to meet them in the alley by the theater and to come urgently.<p>

And when they actually _saw _Ponyboy, they felt a million times more solicitous and sickened. Soda almost burst into tears at the sight of his little brother, and Darry felt guilty, knowing that this would've been avoided if he had just said no to letting Pony go out. Two-Bit, who was a bit tipsy, felt enraged by this, and Steve looked at Ponyboy rather sadly, feeling perturbed.

Of course, none of these reactions were compared to the ones when Johnny said what _he _had seen at the scene of the crime. He told them the whole truth, keeping nothing out. However, he wasn't sure if 'it was all the way', but he said it probably wasn't, which sent the gang into hysteria anyway. Soda went into some bizarre form of convulsions, crying his eyes out. It took Steve, who felt much more perturbed now, to calm him down. Darry looked ill for a brief moment before his expression turned into one of extreme rage, his face becoming redder by the seconds. Two-Bit turned scarily solemn and staid, which showed how serious the situation really was.

This went on for a minute or two before Dally, who still had Ponyboy settled and asleep on his lap, told them all to 'shut the hell up' and to take the teenager home. Darry accorded with the blonde and lifted his youngest brother away from the slightly hesitant Dally, but took off his own coat first and enveloped it securely around Pony, putting it over Dally's jacket.

They all then piled up in Darry's truck, racing home towards the Curtis household. Darry, who drove with Soda and Ponyboy in the front, looked at the nervous state his blonde brother was in and asked, ". . . You alright, little buddy?"

Soda resisted the urge to snap at his elder brother. It would only make things worse. He wiped his teary eyes and said, "No, I'm not okay, Dar. Ponyboy, he could be r-r-r – damn, I can't even say it."

Darry noticed the way Soda swore (which he rarely did), but pretended to ignore it. "It'll be okay, Soda. You heard Johnny, he said that it probably didn't happen." However, he had some trouble believing himself. His fists gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, but he stayed calm.

Soda said nothing. Instead, he turned to look at the slumbering Ponyboy, who was mumbling nonsense whilst he dreamed. The middle Curtis brother sighed, petting Pony's mussed up hair as he placed a gentle kiss on the almost red head's head. "What am I gonna do with you?" he whispered softly to himself.

Ponyboy stirred a bit, but then became motionless once again. Soda stared at Pony for quite awhile, eyeing the ugly bruises and marks blemishing his baby brother's face. Tears sprang in his eyes as he thought of Ponyboy frantically trying to escape his captors, desperately pleading to let him go, howling and screaming for help as they continuously touched and mocked him. . .

He drew a sharp breath and balled his fists up. How Soda fucking _hated _those Socs. Ponyboy was just a kid. He was still a baby who needed to be protected and loved. No kid – no, scratch that, no _person _– should ever have to go through the pain of losing their parents, and then being raped, or at least close to it.

Soda really wished Mom and Dad were still here. They would know exactly what to do. He could clearly picture their reactions: Mom would start crying, but would try to be strong for Ponyboy and help him; Dad would be _so pissed, _but would attempt not to blow up and help also.

Why did they have to die? Why did this have to happen to Ponyboy? Did someone up there hate them, and wished them all the misery and agony they could handle?

Sodapop didn't know.

* * *

><p>"<em>Mommy, mommy!" cried a seven-year-old Ponyboy Curtis. He ran up to his mother, his eyes red and shiny with tears just begging to be released. A newly formed bruise was on his cheek, which was a deep purple color mottled with black and brown. A few scratches were scattered all over his body.<em>

_His beautiful and lovely mother gasped at him, the smile that had previously been on her lips now gone. She leaned down to his height and tilted his chin up, examining the bruise on her son's face. "Ponyboy Curtis, what happened to you?" she asked in a tender tone. _

_Ponyboy sniffled. "Some real fancy-lookin' b-boy came up to me and started m-makin' fun of me at the park. I got real mad at him and yelled back, but he started beatin' me." The tears were now freely flowing down his cheeks, and he let out a sob occasionally. _

_The blonde-haired woman led Pony to the kitchen table, where she told him to sit at a chair and stay there. She then left to retrieve the first aid kit, Ponyboy just waiting for her return. When she came back, she gently cleaned his cuts. He whimpered and cried the whole time. _

_She soon finished disinfecting him, and, no sooner then when she did so, Ponyboy leaped into his mother's warm and loving arms, embracing her tightly. She hugged him back, kissing his head a few times and reassuring him with soothing words that everything would be okay. _

"_Mommy?" asked Ponyboy after a few minutes of just holding onto each other. She looked at him, waiting for his question. "How come that boy was makin' fun of me?" _

_His mother sighed softly. "It's real hard to explain why, Ponyboy; you'll understand when you're older." Pony looked at her with exasperation, and that was when she tried to explain once more, "He thinks he's all high and fancy, like he's better than everyone. It's not true, though. You're every bit as good as him." _

_Ponyboy, however, didn't quite understand. Why would that boy think he's better than everyone? Was it because he had newer, cleaner clothes? Or was it something entirely different? _

"_Just don't let him or anyone else get to you," his mother said after she saw Pony's puzzled facial expression. The beautiful woman then gave her son another kiss on the forehead and ruffled his hair affectionately. "Now, do you wanna help me cook dinner for Daddy and your brothers?" she asked. _

_Ponyboy beamed up at his mom, his confusion and sadness now gone. "Yes!" he said excitedly, jumping out of the woman's embrace. The two then began to cook, chatting with one another as they did so._

* * *

><p><em>Ten-year-old Ponyboy Curtis was sitting on one of the park benches, reading his book in peace. Sometimes he would look up and watch the scenery, but for the most part, he just kept reading.<em>

_That was, until, a person came by. _

"_Hey, kid," a man's voice rang out, interrupting Ponyboy's thoughts. The child looked up from his novel and saw a rather dirty man, about 5'10, standing directly in front of him, staring at him with some kind of emotion that Ponyboy could not figure out for the life of him, "I've lost my puppy. How's 'bout you come with me and look for it?" _

_Ponyboy furrowed his eyebrows before setting his book down on the bench. Should he trust this man? He didn't know him, but he lost his puppy. Maybe Ponyboy should help him. . . But before he could even answer the man, another call rang out. _

"_Hey! You stay away from him!" an aggravated and low voice said. Pony instantly recognized it as his father's, and he was right. His dad was sprinting towards them, his usual joyful face filled with anger instead. _

_The man who had confronted Ponyboy scowled at the tall and muscular male. However, he left Pony alone and ran off in the other direction, away from the two Curtis family members. _

_When Ponyboy's father reached his son, he immediately bombarded the child with questions. "Are you alright, baby? What did he say? Did he do anythin' to you?" _

_Pony looked up at his very tall father in confusion, not understanding what had just happened. "I'm fine, Dad. He just asked me if I could help him find his puppy; he didn't do nothin'." _

_The brown-haired man's expression turned to one of disgust (which Ponyboy didn't comprehend why it was), but then it became relieved after the almost red head finished his explanation. "Now, listen to me, Pone," he said rather sternly, "don't go off by your lonesome ever again. Get Darry or Soda, or even me or Mom. And don't talk to strangers, alright? If they start talkin' to you or something', just run away and scream. Savvy?" _

_The green-gray eyed child nodded, still baffled. What was so wrong with talking to people you didn't know? "Why?" _

_His father paused for a second, appearing thoughtful. "Because some of them are bad people who like to hurt kids." His explanation was pithy – short and sweet so the child could perceive this. _

_Ponyboy nodded slowly and stood up from the bench. "Okay," he said simply, grabbing the book he had been reading and carrying it securely in his arms. _

_His dad patted his back in a comforting way, his normal genial smile now back on his face. "How does going to Dairy Queen for dinner sound? We can go get Mom, Darry, and Soda." _

_Ponyboy flashed a smile at the much taller man; it was very rare for the Curtis family to go eat out for dinner and Pony knew that fact. "Yay! Thanks, Dad." He embraced his father around the waist, and let out a surprised yelp when the brown-eyed man lifted him and placed him on top of his shoulders. _

_The duo walked home like that._

* * *

><p>Ponyboy woke up almost instantly after his dream. His eyebrows furrowed, confused as to why those two memories had replayed in his mind. That was odd, considering the fact that it seemed like forever ago when he had had his last dream about his parents. Pony then took a good look around in his setting. He was in his and Soda's room, lying in bed. What had happened, why was he here, and why was he in different clothes?<p>

Then, Ponyboy remembered.

He bit back a sob, the tears now welling up in his eyes. He recalled _everything: _from the part where he had gone back to the theater to look for his cigarette pack, to the part when he blacked out. But how had he gotten here? The gang and his brothers must have found him. . .

Lordy, _the gang. _What was he going to tell them? Did they already know? Did they h-hate him now? Did they think he was dirty? He wasn't exactly very pure anymore, even if he was _technically _still a virgin. But he still couldn't erase the fact that he had been touched. He could never erase it.

Never.

Those thoughts brought Ponyboy to tears. He finally dropped the trying-to-be-tough act, realizing that he was alone and he could cry as much as he wanted to. Screw the greasers didn't cry rule, he bet a male greaser never felt _this _kind of pain before.

And so Ponyboy began to bawl his eyes out, tucking his knees to his chest and putting his arms around his knees. He sat on his bed, rocking himself back and forth, as he tried to block the memories. However, his retentive brain said no. "I will _ravage _you" played through his mind over and over again, and he shivered, not able to stop it. He wanted a porous mind. He wanted Amnesia, just so he could forget all of these memories and never have to relive them ever again.

But this was reality, and he seemed to never get what he wanted.

After quite a while of sobbing quietly to himself, Ponyboy calmed himself down enough to stop crying. He roughly wiped away the tears from his face, feeling disgusted at himself. How could he start crying like this? How could he be such a crybaby? How could he let this happen to himself? Why didn't he fight back harder? He should have, he _could have. _

He was defiled. He was tainted. He could never be clean or innocent ever again. Suddenly, Ponyboy had the urgent instinct to purge himself - to wash all of those impurities away. Silently, he stood up from the bed, sniffling a few times, as he walked over to the doorway, wanting to go take a long and warm shower.

Ponyboy heard the low murmur of voices in the living room as he tried to tiptoe to the bathroom. He didn't want anyone to see him, not now while he was still filthy. He couldn't bare the questions or the repulsed looks while he was in such a fragile state, or otherwise he'd break down and go crazy with grief.

He managed to reach the bathroom without being detected. Quietly, he closed the door and made sure it was locked behind him. Then, he turned on the tap in the shower and stepped into the burning water, making it as hot as he could possibly stand. He had to wash all of the grime and whatever else he had on him until he was absolutely pristine and sterile.

He showered and scrubbed until his skin was bright red and tingling. Ponyboy had furiously scoured himself until he could no longer go on. As he put on his clothes, however, he still felt dirty, contaminated. He couldn't face the gang, especially his brothers, like this.

_You coward, _Ponyboy angrily thought to himself, _Go out there. If they decide to hate you for the rest of your life, you'll live through it. You're a damned greaser, life isn't fair for you or any of your kind. Now get the hell out there. _

Pony took a deep breath, trying to brace himself for the worst.

But when he stepped out of the restroom and saw the stunned and pitiful stares of his friends and brothers, he was overwhelmed. The attention was too much for him. Almost immediately, tears flooded his eyes and they sailed rapidly down his face. He let out sobs and looked around to see where he could escape.

"Ponyboy?" Soda asked gently as he stood up from his seat and took a few tentative steps toward his little brother. The gang watched Soda intensely, especially Darry and Dally. Pony looked up at him wildly, tears streaming down his red and swollen eyes, and Soda felt his heart break into a tiny million pieces.

"We ain't gonna hurt you, honey," spoke Soda softly once more, begging his own tears to stay at bay. He had to be strong and calm for his baby brother. Slowly, he took another few steps, trying not to overwhelm Ponyboy again.

"Soda?" asked Ponyboy in a very quiet, fragile voice. He watched with wide eyes as his elder brother stepped closer and closer to him.

Soda nodded calmly. "Yes, baby, it's me. C'mere, Ponyboy. We ain't gonna hurt you. All we wanna do is talk to you. Don't you wanna talk to us?"

Ponyboy shook his head fervently, backing up into the wall. He then curled up into a ball, rocking himself. "You'll hate me," he said in a subdued tone, some undertones of bitterness and sadness noticeable.

The blonde man's heart broke again, the tears now falling down his own face, and his voice cracked as he spoke. "I could never, _ever_ hate you, Ponyboy Michael Curtis, even if I tried. You're my baby brother and will _always _be that to me. Nothing will ever change that. I-I love you."

Pony sobbed very loudly at that. "S-Soda," his own voice also cracked before he fell limp against the wall, dead to the world.

Darry jumped out of his seat, sprinting towards his brothers. Soda, however, had reached Ponyboy first and was bawling his eyes out, holding the almost red head in a very tight embrace.

"Why? WHY HIM, DAMMIT!" yelled Soda angrily at no one in particular through his tears. He sobbed, clutching onto his baby brother with all the strength he could muster.

"You gotta let him go, buddy," said Darry in an unusually soft-spoken tone. He rested a hand on Soda's shoulder. "I'll bring him to bed, and then you can sleep next to Pony, okay? We'll talk to him tomorrow."

Soda hesitated, but then nodded slowly. He reluctantly let go of Ponyboy, and Darry picked up the latter gingerly, carrying him to bed. Soda followed behind him like a lost little puppy, literally a step behind them.

When the Curtis brothers left, Dally let out a few loud curses, his face red. He was about to punch the wall in frustration, but wheeled around and hit the couch harshly instead. Johnny stared at the hallway with wide eyes, as if he couldn't believe what just happened. Steve put his face in his hands for a few minutes before getting up and leaving the household. Two-Bit stayed eerily silent, his fists balled up angrily.

"This is fuckin' unbelievable," spat Dally furiously, his left eyebrow twitching once more.

He spoke for everyone.


	9. Creepin' Up On You

Ah! I'm so sorry that I haven't updated lately, but this week has been really hectic and busy (brother's birthday, make-up work, way too many quizzes, "The Hunger Games" premiere, and who could forget the gigantic end-of-the-quarter party?). Well, this chapter is pretty big, so maybe that could make up for it?

Okay, so I have a bunch of news! Sometime in the beginning of April I will be on **vacation**! I'll be gone maybe about ten days (I'm not really sure XD), so I'm going to try and make as many updates as I can this week.

Number two, the 107th reviewer has reviewed! This person is Oswald Pepperpot, and I've written them a little one-shot called **A Bad Habit**, which is about Steve/Ponyboy!

Lastly, Squishy Pencil has written an extension for my story **Ambivalence **(which also included some Steve/Ponyboy), and they did a fantastic job on it! It's called **I Blame You, Steve**, which you should all definitely check out!

Phew, okay, I'm done! I hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p>When Ponyboy regained consciousness, he found himself once again in his and Soda's bed. He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes furiously as he tried to recall what had happened. Soon enough he remembered, but his facial expression betrayed no emotion; he was left as a hollow and empty shell.<p>

Ponyboy then took a look around the room, surprisingly seeing no Soda snoring next to him. Sodapop – that liar. He had been declaring how he would never be able to hate Ponyboy and how much he loved him, but he wasn't here – couldn't even be in the same room as Pony without being repulsed by him.

That thought brought a miniscule of tears to his eyes, but he wiped them away. No matter how many times Pony told himself that no one would be able to love him or be around him, he still couldn't get used to the idea of his brothers hating him. That idea ripped a chunk of his heart out, since he knew how much he loved his brothers. He admired them. He _adored _them. It hurt so much knowing that they couldn't even stand to be in the same room as him.

The door creaking open suddenly jarred the green-gray eyed teen from his depressing thoughts. He didn't even have enough time to dive under the covers and pretend to be asleep. All he did was just sat there, his mouth a bit agape as the person quietly tried to open the door.

Ponyboy had been fully expecting Soda to be standing there, and he was right. The blonde's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but they soon transitioned to a soft, incredibly gentle, and loving form. He stared at Ponyboy with such open tenderness that the youngest Curtis brother almost flinched.

"Ponyboy, you feelin' okay, baby?" asked Soda, soundlessly stepping inside the room. He pushed the door until it was not even an inch away from the frame.

In response, Pony said nothing. He looked down at the bed, idly fiddling with the cozy and white blanket as he did so. There was no way he could answer his brother without choking on his words or, even worse, start crying.

"You hungry? Darry made your favorite – baked chicken," Soda tried again, gently attempting to coax Ponyboy out of the room or, to a lesser extent, out of the bed. He walked closer to his brother until he was a few feet away from him. The distance he left was enough to keep Pony from panicking, but close enough so he could watch the teenager carefully.

Pony shook his head solemnly. He still played around with the bedspread, letting his slim fingers run over the smooth and soft cover. He didn't look up at Soda at all, which made him miss the uneasy and concerned glances he'd receive in turn.

"Okay, Pone. You just come and find me if you need somethin'," said Soda, resisting the urge to ruffle his brother's silky locks or do something even remotely affectionate. As he was about to walk out the door, he suddenly turned around and bluntly stated, ". . . I love you, Ponyboy."

Pony glanced up at his elder brother, the shock clearly evident on his face as his full lips were gaping open and his green-gray eyes were widened to an incredible size. A small amount of tears gathered in his eyes, but he blinked them back hastily. Soda sent him a small and melancholy smile, his usually exuberant and excited brown eyes filled with such an overwhelming flow of protectiveness and love. He showed Ponyboy how much he cared for him in those eyes.

Ponyboy began sobbing.

Soda frowned deeply, not expecting or hoping that kind of response. Was his brother that scared or nervous by him? Regardless, he sped to his brother immediately, leaving the door ajar by accident, and began murmuring reassuring nonsense, sitting at the edge of the bed while Ponyboy sat by the headboard, crying. He wouldn't touch his younger brother unless Ponyboy asked him first.

"S-Soda, I love you too, b-but you d-don't know what t-they _did _to me," stuttered Ponyboy, trying to maintain a calm composure, but failing as the tears streamed down his cheeks and as he choked on his sobs. He curled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them tightly.

The blonde-haired man felt his heart clench. Not only did his youngest brother think that he wouldn't love him after this, but he used the word 'they.' As in there was more than one of them. Soda felt rage swirling and bubbling inside him, but he suppressed the feeling. Instead, he looked at the way Ponyboy held himself now, totally fragile and vulnerable to any and all attacks. Pony needed him right now.

"I will love you forever and always. That goes the same for Darry also," said Sodapop firmly, leaving no room for Ponyboy to argue with him. "I want you to know that you can tell me anythin', Pone. _Anythin'. _If you wanna tell me what happened, then go right ahead. I ain't gonna flinch or somethin', I'll just stay, not judge, and listen."

Ponyboy bit his lip, but then switched to apprehensively chewing on the inside of his cheek when he felt a bit of blood begin to draw. He was about to say something, but hesitated. That deal was awfully tempting . . . "I-It wasn't all the way," he began bluntly, which caused Soda to intently watch him. "I t-tried to fight 'em off, I really did, Soda, but then t-they began k-kissin' me, hittin' me, and they t-tore off my clothes. . . Oh, God, S-Soda, h-he – he put his fingers in me!" Pony sobbed loudly and put his head in his hands, ashamed.

Soda was frozen for a moment, his fists clenching tighter and whiter by the passing second, but he snapped out of it rather quickly. "Shh, shh. You're okay, baby, you're okay," he said soothingly. All he wanted to do was comfort Ponyboy by wrapping him up in his arms. And viciously beat whoever did this to his brother.

The next few minutes were spent with Ponyboy trying to calm himself down and Soda helping him calm down with placid and sympathetic words. Then, Pony, weary and exhausted from what he had experienced the past few days, began to feel drowsy and went back to sleep instantly. Soda woefully smiled and placed a soft kiss on his brother's brow, gently moving the covers over him and tucking him in. The next thing he did was exit the room, but he literally bumped into someone on the way out.

"Darry?" questioned Soda when he ran into a muscular and large chest. He furrowed his eyebrows and took a step back from his elder brother, eyeing him confusedly.

Darry wiped his eyes very quickly before he took a deep breath. "I-I heard, Soda," he said solemnly, frowning deeply. He then put his hands on his head, rubbing his aching mind. "I heard _everythin'_."

Soda nodded very slowly – comprehendingly – and closed the door to his shared bedroom. A tear slipped out of his eye before dropping down to the floor and bursting. "I hate this," he said so bitterly and suddenly that Darry snapped his attention to him immediately. "Why does everythin' happen to us, Dar? Can't we be happy for once in life? Those-Those – I don't even know what to call them – _Socs, _are _disgustin'. _I can't believe what they did to Ponyboy. Oh, God, Pony, my poor little brother, my baby . . ." he trailed off, letting out a choked sob.

Darry put his hands on Soda's shoulders and hugged him comfortingly. "I know, little buddy, I know," he said lowly as the blonde buried his head in the crook between Darry's neck and shoulder. The blue-green eyed man felt tears forming in his own eyes, but he blinked them back rather easily. He had to be strong for _both _of his brothers. And he knew how to ever since their parents died.

Johnny watched the scene from afar. He then glanced at Dally, who sat in the seat next to him. The blonde-haired man was muttering menacing threats under his breath, his ice blue eyes looking murderous. Two-Bit had left awhile ago, claiming that the tension was getting to him. Steve had left hours ago, right after Darry had carried Ponyboy to bed, and none of them had seen him since.

When Soda and Darry walked back into the kitchen, both of them cooled down, Johnny lowered his gaze down. Dally, however, snapped his attention to them and immediately spoke up. "What'd he say?" he demanded.

The brown-eyed man hesitated, but Dally shot him an impatient look, which made Soda find his voice. "It wasn't all the way, but he's-he's not in the best of moods. He went back to sleep."

Dally and Johnny simultaneously let out a breath they both didn't known they were holding. But then the blonde male lightly growled. Socs. Just the mere word left a bitter taste on Dally's tongue. The ones that did this to Pony were wicked and horrible. They gave him even more reason to hate Socs, which he already did, but now it was an almost uncontrollable hate. Key word: almost.

"I'm gonna hit the hay," said Darry tiredly, rubbing his head. All of these tragedies will end up making him look like he's forty, if not at least give him a huge migraine. He pointed at Johnny and Dally. "Y'all can sleep on the couch." He then pointed to Soda. "You can stay with me. I figure Pone wants some space."

Soda was disappointed at not being able to share a bed with his little brother, but he understood. Ponyboy needed some time and space to himself, so Soda will give him that. He nodded at Darry, and the duo began walking in the direction of the eldest Curtis brother's bedroom.

Johnny turned to Dally when the other two were gone. "I can sleep on the floor if you-"

Dally shook his head in a way that meant no arguing, interrupting the darker teen. "Nah, it's alright, kid. You take the couch."

"Thanks, Dal," said Johnny gratefully, his dark eyes lighting up the tiniest bit. He was not very pleased with the situation that Ponyboy was in (he hated it, actually), but some chivalry in a time like this was rather nice.

The blonde in turn only nodded slowly, seeming to have calmed down to his regular cool self. He then stood up from the wooden chair, stretching a bit, before he made his way to the living room. He plopped himself down on the ground, lying on his side. Before he drifted off to sleep, he thought:

_I'll get whoever did this to Ponyboy if it's the last thing I'll do._

* * *

><p>The next morning, Dally found himself (unsurprisingly) lying on the floor. When he looked around, though, he saw Soda half-asleep on one of the chairs. Soda looked like he hadn't slept at all last night; he had dark bags under his eyes, his usually straight dark-gold hair sticking out in every possible direction, and his eyelids were constantly drooping down. To see the normally enterprising and jaunty male in such a state was bizarre.<p>

Dally sat up from the floor, smelling the sweet perfume of food cooking. His stomach grumbled loudly, reminding him that he hadn't eaten dinner last night. None of them had, except maybe Steve and Two-Bit, but none of them knew where they had gone.

Therefore, Dally set out to the kitchen. He figured that Darry was the one cooking since Soda was still on the chair, not even noticing that Dally had gotten up, and Johnny was still asleep on the couch. He actually did a double take when he saw Ponyboy lightly smiling and making eggs like nothing had ever happened.

"Hi, Dally," Pony greeted a bit too cheerfully, giving the elder male a too large grin. "Here's some breakfast if you want any." He handed Dally a plate with three sunny-side-up eggs, a large piece of chocolate cake, and two slices of toast on the side.

The blonde greaser blinked, still staring at Ponyboy with a poker face, before he took the plate, mumbling a small 'thanks' under his breath. He sat down at the table, but didn't eat. All he did was watch Pony prepare the rest of the food, humming some upbeat song. What the heck? Wasn't this the same person who had had a break down the night before? The same person who had been attacked by Socs? What happened, and why was he acting like this?

Dally was disrupted from his thoughts when he saw that Darry was making his way to the kitchen. _Time to see Superman's reaction, _thought Dally. And he did: Darry's eyes almost popped out of his head the moment he saw Ponyboy enthusiastically spinning around to the song he hummed.

". . . Hi, Pony," said Darry unsurely, shooting Dally an utterly confused look. In response, the other greaser shrugged, not knowing much more than the twenty-one-year-old does.

Ponyboy spun around instantaneously. "Hello, Darry!" Pony sent him a blinding smile, handing him a plate almost over-flowing with food. Darry only stared at his younger brother, even more bamboozled than Dally, but snapped back to reality when Ponyboy purposely cleared his throat.

"Is Ponyboy okay?" Darry whispered to Dally as he watched Pony walk out of the kitchen and into the living room, presumably going to wake up Johnny and to get Soda to his feet.

"I dunno, man," Dally replied. He fixed Ponyboy with his gaze when he jumped back in the room with a rather bouncy Soda and a flabbergasted Johnny. It suddenly hit Dally. Ponyboy was . . . _too _happy. He was faking it. He was pretending like nothing had ever happened. Damn, this may be worse than Pony staying in bed all day and bawling his eyes out. At least the almost red head would be displaying his true emotions then, unlike being such a phony now.

"Are you sure you're okay, honey?" asked Soda solicitously, even though his chocolate brown eyes were gleaming and he was wearing a grin the size of the sun. Apparently, it looked like Soda either _really _wanted to believe Pony was all right, or he honestly didn't see that Ponyboy was faking.

Pony flinched. "Yeah, I'm good," said the green-gray eyed teenager airily, handing both Johnny and Soda a plate each.

Johnny, when he and Soda sat down, looked at Ponyboy and instantly noticed that the beauty didn't have any food for himself. "Ain't you gonna eat?" he asked softly, although he could've shouted it seeing as how Dally, Soda, and Darry had immediately stopped eating and stared at the almost red head.

Ponyboy shifted uncomfortably in his seat, pulling at the collar on his shirt as he found the floor a very interesting place now. "I ain't hungry. I'll eat later," he said briskly. A little too briskly.

Soda looked at his brother with concern, noticing that Pone didn't seem too fine now, but he said nothing. Darry narrowed his eyes at Ponyboy warily, more suspicious than he was earlier. Dally gave him an intense and unwavering stare, which made the harassed male even more uneasy and anxious.

However, no one pestered Pony again. They all ate (minus one person seated there, of course) and kept a silent watch on Ponyboy. They didn't talk. They hardly even made eye contact with each other, except for the occasionally glimpse they'd get of Pony's eyes glancing back at them. Dally would actually try on _purpose _to see the youngest teen's eyes. There was something different – unusual – about them . . .

When he saw those green-gray eyes once more, Dally noticed it. Ponyboy's once pulchritudinous and lovely eyes were flat. They weren't as lively and pert as before; they were more . . . dead. Not as innocent. Dally swore in his mind, his fists unconsciously balled up. He'd be damned if _they _took one more thing from Ponyboy.

The sudden ring of the phone broke the empty silence. Soda hopped out of his seat and answered it before Darry could even put down his fork.

"Uh-huh . . . uh-huh. Wait, what? No. You did _not _– what? Lordy, why'd you – okay. Fine, but I don't wanna leave Pon – fine! You owe me big for this," Soda hissed into the phone and hung up. Everyone watched him as the personable male turned to Darry and nervously said, "Dar, Steve is in, uh, some trouble. I gotta go get him. Can I use the truck?"

Darry looked at his younger brother in confusion. "Yeah, but is Steve all right?"

"He'll be fine. Thanks, Darry. See y'all later!" Soda shouted before he hurriedly grabbed the car keys and sprinted out the door, presumably heading towards the truck.

". . . That was kinda weird," noted Darry, shaking his head at the antics of Steve and Soda. He then took his empty plate and dunked it in the sink, about to wash it, but Ponyboy came up to him and started protesting that he'll wash the dishes.

"Oh, no you don't," Darry said rather sharply. Pony winced a bit at the tone and that was when Darry realized that, despite the fact that his younger brother was acting happy, he was still in a very fragile state. How could he forget that something absolutely horrifying had happened to Ponyboy last night? The eldest Curtis brother then said gently, "You already cooked breakfast, Pone. _I'll _clean up. You go rest or do whatever you want to, okay, baby?"

Pony nodded in submission. "Okay, Darry," he said in such a gloomy and sad tone that all Darry wanted to do was to scoop the almost red head up and give him a gigantic hug. But he couldn't do that, of course. Not only would Pony freak out, but Dally would probably deliver a punch straight to his face. He had definitely noticed the way that Dally had suddenly grew protective of his baby brother. He just wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Pony, how about we go watch the TV? You can choose the channel," suggested Johnny quickly, determined not to let his best friend feel any more depression. That was much easier said than done, though, especially considering _what _had happened to the green-gray eyed teenager.

That was when Ponyboy had visibly brightened, his lips curling up to form a sugary smile. "Thanks, Johnnycake!" he said gleefully, running into the living room with Johnny right behind him.

There was a moment of silence between the only ones left in the kitchen – Darry and Dally – before Dally bluntly stated, "He's fakin'."

Darry sighed, knowing exactly who and what Dally was talking about. "I know. I don't know what to do with him."

"I dunno either, man."

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Ponyboy still found himself blankly staring at the television. He had never really been watching it, even though he had acted happily at the suggestion of it. But that had been all an act. He was still languishing inside, but he couldn't let the others find out how this really affected him, even if they had all caught at least one glimpse of it. He had to pretend like nothing was wrong because Darry and Soda already had enough on their plates; he couldn't be the one to give them even more stress.<p>

Johnny was currently sitting down on one of the chairs in the room, and Dally was seated right next to Ponyboy on the couch. Both of them would occasionally glance at the youngest member of the gang to see how he was faring, but all they would see were his devoid and empty facial expressions, his dull green-gray eyes, and his hand supporting his slowly drooping head. It was a bit troubling to watch indeed.

Suddenly, the front door slammed against the wall, revealing a disgruntled and unhappy Soda bolstering an injured and barely mobile Steve. Upon seeing the two, Dally jumped off the sofa and dragged the marred Steve with Soda's help to the couch.

Ponyboy leapt off the sofa at the same time Darry barged in from his room, took one look at Steve, and immediately asked, "What the heck is going on here? Sodapop Curtis, why were you gone for so long? And what happened to Steve? I thought you said he'd be fine."

"I'll tell you later. Can you please go get the first aid kit, Darry?" Soda implored, who, despite looking at his friend with a mildly unpleasant expression, had a worried and concerned sparkle in his eye.

Darry closed his mouth, listening to his younger brother, and nodded once before exiting the room to find the kit. He came back rather shortly with the box in hand, giving it to Soda, who popped open the top and frantically began fretting over Steve.

The detriment on the eighteen-year-old male included dark bruises littered all throughout his body, more than a few cuts leaking out redness, and some scrapes on his elbows and knees. Ponyboy grimaced when he saw the damage on his brother's best friend. He didn't particularly like Steve, but he didn't want him to be hurt. He fleetingly wondered what had happened for Steve to be injured this badly.

When Soda just about finished disinfecting and cleansing his best friend, Steve let out a low, painful groan. Then, he began to heavily swear under his breath, also muttering other obscenities and blasphemies. He was about to sit up, but Soda put a hand on his chest and told him to stay down and rest.

"Boy, Stevie, I can't believe this . . ." murmured Soda to himself, all traces of hardness and irritability towards his friend now vanished. Instead, he had a pained look in his eyes, yet it was also filled with love.

"What happened?" Johnny asked quietly after a few minutes of silence.

"Later. Please." Soda shook his head, putting his hands on his forehead and rubbing it. He then exited the room, pushing Darry out of his way, and made his way to his and Ponyboy's bedroom.

Darry watched Soda leave, glanced at the now sleeping Steve, and then looked at the other occupants of the room, especially zeroing in on Ponyboy. "Unbelievable," he muttered angrily under his breath, exhaling rather noisily. He left the living room and went to his own room, slamming the door loudly behind him.

Ponyboy flinched at the raucous noise. One brother was angry, the other one won't tell what happened. He wondered if what had occurred to himself played any role in this at all. The way that Darry had specifically looked at him earlier certainly didn't disprove that theory.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Johnny went to use the bathroom and Dally went into the kitchen to raid the fridge. Only an unconscious Steve and a worried Ponyboy were left in the living room in complete quietude.

Then the phone rang.

Ponyboy looked at it and, upon seeing that no one else would/could get it, walked over to it and picked it up, answering in a way that Darry normally would have scolded him for not using the proper greeting. "Hello?"

"Hello, greaser."

Pony's blood went cold instantly.

"I can tell by your silence that you recognize my voice. Yesterday was a lot of fun; it's a shame we didn't get to finish it. I hope to have some more fun real soon, though. Just you and me, alone, having _much _more fun. Well, see you sometime soon, my little sexy greaser. Oh, and tell your big brothers and that blonde greaser that I said hello. They'll love that." _Click. _

Ponyboy's mouth was agape and he dropped the phone, letting it hang by its cord as he heard the noise it plays when the other end hangs up. Unadulterated terror and trepidation flowed freely through his veins, freezing everything and anything inside of him. He didn't breathe for a few seconds, standing absolutely still, before he took in what just happened. Tears sprang up to his eyes and he screamed with uncontrollable terror in his voice. "DARRY! SODA!" he shouted hysterically, his breathing quickening to an incredibly fast and rapid pace. Pony screamed loudly once more, putting his hands over his ears and dropping to the floor, bawling his eyes out.

A few doors slammed open and very quick and loud footsteps were coming down the hallway, sprinting towards the youngest gang member. Darry, however, made it in the room first. He felt his heart break into a billion pieces when he saw Ponyboy on the floor, looking completely broken and vulnerable.

"Darry!" shouted Ponyboy, running up to his eldest brother and jumping up to put his arms around Darry's neck and his legs around the tall man's waist. He sobbed loudly into the brunet's chest as Darry wrapped his comforting arms around his youngest brother.

Soda jumped around Darry to face Ponyboy's back. He shot his elder brother a puzzled look, which he received a similar confused look from Darry, showing that he didn't know much more. The blonde male then began to rub circles into his baby brother's back, trying to appease and comfort him.

"Shh, you're alright, Pony. You're okay, you're okay. I'm right here, shh. I won't let anythin' harm you, baby," soothed Darry, rocking back and forth slowly. He nuzzled the green-gray eyed teen's hair gently, which, in turn, made Ponyboy snuggle into Darry's chest, his sobs still shaking his whole body.

Steve sat up on the couch and looked irritated from being abruptly woken up. "What the hell?" he asked roughly, rubbing his aching head. He still didn't know what was going on, and, from his point of view, all he could see was Johnny looking up at Dally with scared, wide eyes.

Then, Dally wheeled around to face Steve and sent the greaser an incredibly harsh and withering glare. Steve winced slightly before sending the blonde a less harsh look. "Shut up, Randle. Somethin' just happened to Ponyboy and we have no idea what the fuck is wrong," snapped Dally, enraged.

"Sorry," muttered Steve angrily. It wasn't his fault that he didn't know what was going on. He just got up, for Pete's sake!

Dally frowned deeply and walked over to the Curtis brothers, where Ponyboy was still frightened and hysterical, and Soda and Darry were fussing over him and trying to calm him down. Unfortunately, the process was going very slow.

"Kid, what's the problem?" asked Dally quietly, at least making an effort to be soft and a bit gentle towards Pony. His ice blue eyes were not as cold and were a little warmer as they watched Ponyboy cry and whimper.

The almost red head hiccupped, laying his head against Darry's head comfortably as he shakily and vaguely replied, "H-He c-c-called."

"Who called, honey?" Soda asked gently, rubbing Ponyboy's back even more slowly than before. His normally pert brown eyes were solicitous and held a tinge of fear.

"The S-Soc. H-He said wants t-to see me s-soon, and to t-tell you three that he s-s-said hello," answered Ponyboy so quietly that barely anyone could hear him. Then, his bottom lip quivered and he began sobbing again, concealing his face in his eldest brother's warm chest.

Everyone knew who 'the Soc' was, so no further explanation was necessary. However, what Pony said after was not taken in stride. Johnny's big black eyes were the size of tennis balls, Steve had a look of pure disgust on his face, Soda looked like he was about to be ill, although there was fury in his eyes, Darry had a furious expression, and he would've been clenching his fists if he hadn't been holding Ponyboy, and Dally, well . . .

"This is bullshit!" he roared, which made Pony flinch and cry harder into Darry's shirt. The eldest and the middle Curtis brothers noticed this and sent the blonde angered warning glances, telling him to shut up. Dally didn't heed the admonitory looks, though.

"I fuckin' hate this!" he yelled, completely overtaken by rage. Dally then ran out the house, slamming the door behind him. His icy eyes were now lit by a fire inside and he scowled, occasionally letting loose an animalistic growl that would show his sharp teeth.

Let's hope he doesn't do anything stupid.


	10. One Way Or Another

Whoa, another update this quickly? Ha ha ha, you know it!

This chapter is really different and short, I'm just saying. Brace yourself and try to figure out whose point of view it is (it's very obvious)!

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><p>Ponyboy Michael Curtis.<p>

What a lovely and creative name.

That name alone sends heat all throughout my body, making me feel warm and tingly on the inside. Butterflies flutter in my stomach. I feel a bundle of excitement, concupiscence, and other emotions that I could not identify for the life of me tumble through, forcing me to stop whatever I had been previously doing.

And to think all of this occurs due to the mere mention of a name.

Now, the person himself with the name Ponyboy Michael Curtis has a _much _bigger affect on me. In fact, if I were to write down every emotion and every little thing I felt just by glancing at him, the list would be extremely long. Two pages _at the least_.

Ponyboy (to describe him a bit) is . . . gorgeous. He has long and slim legs that I desperately yearn to feel against me. He has silky and soft light brown hair that's almost red. He has amazing big green-gray eyes that always acquire my attention. He has dark eyelashes that are nice and long. He has a small waist that I really want to wrap my arm around, just to show everyone who he'll always belong to.

Not only that, but on the inside he's just as beautiful. He's naturally kind – sympathetic. He's witty, quick to respond with clever things to say, and intelligent. He's sensitive to himself and others around him. He is innocent and imaginative at heart; always off in his own little world.

He's perfect.

He's _everything. _

He will be mine.

And who am I?

Well, I am something that society declares me to be a Soc. I'm of the human species, specifically in the male gender. I'm seventeen years old and live in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I have a GPA average of 4.0. I have one older sister who's twenty-two years old and pregnant with her first-born. I also have two biological parents, a mother and a father, who have raised my sister and me since we were born.

My name, you may ask?

I won't say. Where would all the fun be if I already told you one of the most crucial parts of the game?

Yes, I consider this a game. A rather fun one, if I do say so myself.

You see, I consider myself the protagonist – the knight-in-shining-armor if you will. Ponyboy (lovely, lovely Ponyboy) is my love interest – the damsel in distress. He is locked up away in the forbidden tower, guarded by his two elder brothers and his gang – the antagonists. I need to rescue him. Unfortunately, that won't be easy. He has many potential suitors that want him, not to mention his overbearing little family that's always in my way. So, I find my way to get to him by cornering him alone, outside and away from his family.

To be honest, the only reason I bring my so-called 'friends' is because of strength in numbers. If Dallas Winston just so happens to stumble upon Ponyboy and me together, he might kill me, regardless of my many well-defined muscles and strength. With more people, however, he can't just attack me without the danger of being hurt by multiple others. Plus, some of these 'friends' of mine are loyal.

It's nice to have loyal friends, even if most of them don't understand my want – my need – for Ponyboy Michael Curtis.

He's my life, simply put. How could they not understand? He's my addiction; the one thing I need more than air.

The first time I ever met him was when I was in second grade (he was in Kindergarten). When I gained a crush on him, I was in seventh grade. I outwardly showed my little obsession over him this year. Just a few weeks ago, I believe.

I know all about Ponyboy. As in, his life and the people he's around. He has two elder brothers, Darrel Shayne Curtis Jr. and Sodapop Patrick Curtis. Sodapop (nicknamed Soda) had been in my grade until he dropped out to work at the DX. Darrel (nicknamed Darry) had dated my sister, believe it or not, when he was sixteen, so I had personally gotten the chance to talk to him, as well as Sodapop. I also know that he dropped out of college to take care of his brothers since their parents died in a car crash. Ponyboy also hangs out with Keith Mathews (nicknamed Two-Bit), who is a senior at nineteen-years-old and is always either laughing or stealing. Steve Randle is Sodapop's best buddy and he strongly dislikes my sexy little greaser, although he cares for him deep inside. Jonathan Cade (nicknamed Johnny) is Ponyboy's best buddy, very quiet, and seventeen-years-old. And Dallas Winston (nicknamed Dally) is considered a tough-as-nails greaser, even though I know for a fact that he's feeling something for _my _baby.

Ponyboy also has an average GPA of 3.9. He skipped a grade when he was fourteen-years-old. He's slightly allergic to cats. He's Protestant, even though he hardly goes to church anymore. He smokes a lot. He loves to watch movies, read books, and draw. He runs Track at the high school. His parents died in a car crash when he was thirteen-years-old. The first time he was hospitalized was when he was seven-years-old, having to have his tonsils removed. One time when Ponyboy was ten, Darrel had brought him to his football game, but the eldest Curtis brother had gotten into a fight after finding out that some of his teammates were making fun of Ponyboy.

I know a whole lot more about him, but I don't feel like listing any more things.

Don't ask me how I know all of this. I won't tell you, no matter how many times you may beg or plead. I'll only say that I have the right connections – and money. Money is almost always essential.

I'm probably freaking you out right now.

I mean, who knows that much about one person, even though that one barely knows the one who knows everything? Besides, I tried to rape Ponyboy. I won't deny it. I did it and I'll take the blame for it. I won't, however, take the blame for the other – excuse me – Socs. Not my fault they decided to come and help molest Ponyboy (I will get them back for that later. No one touches my baby. No one.).

Asides from my obsession with Ponyboy Curtis, I'm actually a pretty normal guy. I'm on the Football team in my high school. I get straight As on my report card, no exceptions. I'm going to go to college next year, and I've already decided on which one to go to. In my free time, I go to the movies (and fantasize about Ponyboy). I'm pretty agreeable with others, but I don't really talk a lot. I'm more of an action guy, but I will talk when necessary. I'm straightforward and I don't lie a lot. Also, I have a pretty weird sense of humor and I am rather sick and twisted. Plus, I'm a sadist.

Not very surprising for someone who attempted to rape another, huh? Not to mention that I'm planning to stalk Ponyboy.

Whoops, didn't meant to reveal that. Whatever, I don't really care.

It's not like you can call the cops on me.

You have no idea what my name is or who I am.

I think that's one of the scariest parts. Stalkers and creepers are everywhere. That friendly next-door-neighbor you always thought was nice? Yeah, well, they could be peeping through your windows at this very moment, just watching you.

Sorry if I scared you. It's the truth and I'm not going to sugarcoat it.

You know what; I'm going a bit off track here. I want to talk about Ponyboy, not about stalkers and such.

Yes, so back to Ponyboy Michael Curtis.

I think I'm in love with him. I have never felt this way about any other human being before. All I want to do is just smother him in my love so he knows how much I need him.

Was that weird? I don't know if anyone else imagines their loved ones smothered in their love. Anyways, back to the topic.

But I don't think he likes me so much. I did try to rape him, but does that mean he should automatically dislike me? Whatever happened to second chances? Besides, he doesn't know much about me. All he knows is that I tried to rape him and that I called him and left a creepy message, but I don't think that's enough to judge a person on.

Hardly any personality is in those actions.

Oh, but there were a few signs of my personality. When I said to tell his big brothers and Dally that I said hello, that was a part of my strange humor. Frankly, I find it funny how protective they are of him. I don't know why, but I do. I also kind of wanted to scare them. How should I know that Ponyboy has two big brothers and a blonde friend? they probably thought.

In addition, I have no doubt that their whole gang wants to kill me. I mean, how dare I do this to their youngest and most innocent gang member? The nerve of me. I should be hauled off to jail right now, but not before they pulverize me first.

Please. Such clichés.

I still find over protectiveness amusing to no ends, though.

The ironic part? I'm _very _over protective about my baby.

And I don't find that funny so much.

Damn. It's 6:53 P.M. My sister will be here shortly with her husband for dinner. I have to go now and get ready, but don't forget:

One way or another, Ponyboy Michael Curtis _will _be mine.

Mine _alone. _

And I don't give up easily.


	11. Whatever Gets You Through The Night

Hey, guys, I'm back with another installment of "Desire"! However, I just want to say something because I'm rather mad now about what happened, even though most of you probably don't really care XD

Okay, so for Spring Break, my family went on vacation to the Gulf of Mexico, and today we went out to the beach to go jet skiing. You're all probably wondering, what's wrong with that? Well, while my dad, brother, and I were jet skiing, a huge wave hit the boat while we were turning and _flipped the jet over on us. _

My dad (who was driving it) flew off the boat immediately and landed somewhere remotely by us. The jet hit my brother and me on the head, and my brother was momentarily trapped under it before I quickly pulled him out. We all swallowed a pretty hefty amount of salt water, so we were all coughing our lungs out. My brother also was on the verge of tears, so I had to keep him calm whilst help arrived.

Luckily, no one was severely injured. I was the worst off with a bumped head and a bruised nose (a bruised nose doesn't look so bad, but it burns like hell, trust me) while my dad was relatively unharmed and my brother had a small bump on his head.

So we're all okay and safe now. I just wanted to tell someone about what happened. And please, _please,_ always wear a lifejacket while you're jet skiing or doing something as equally dangerous. If it weren't for those, my family probably would've been a lot worse off.

Well, that was it! Sorry for starting off on such a serious note XD Now, please enjoy this chapter!

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><p>When Dally slammed the front door loudly, Ponyboy squirmed and wiggled around, desperately trying to get out of Darry's grip to go after Dally. However, his eldest brother held him down easily, tightening his hold on Pony just a smidge.<p>

"Oh, no you don't," said Darry, but the green-gray eyed teenager was relentless and willful. He continued to wriggle until the brown-haired man grew tired of this and threw Ponyboy over his shoulder, stalking over to his bedroom with Soda nervously shuffling behind them.

"Let go of me! I need to go find Dally; he's gonna do somethin' stupid! LET GO!" screeched Ponyboy, kicking and punching any part of Darry he could find. However, all Darry did was grunt. Pony stopped after a few minutes, though, realizing that his shouting and hitting was to no avail. The youngest Curtis brother then fell limp in his brother's arms, sobbing a few more times.

Soda's expression was filled with complete heartbreak – nothing more, nothing less. His usually jaunty brown eyes held a plethora of perturbation, fear, and anxiety; his mouth was slightly agape and his lips were twisted downwards; his skin was devoid of color – he was as pallid and pale as a pillow. He absolutely couldn't stand to see Ponyboy in such a state, but he still followed his brothers all the way to Darry's room.

"Soda, close the door," Darry commanded the moment they stepped foot into his bedroom. The blonde brother nodded sternly and swiftly shut the door as Darry laid the enervated Pony on his bed.

Darry and Soda both hovered over their little brother in case he tried escaping, but Ponyboy didn't budge or move in the slightest bit. He just laid there, his green-gray eyes dull and devoid of emotion, his mien blank, and his body spread out in an awkward position. However, after a few minutes of doing absolutely nothing, Pony's face suddenly crumpled and he began crying again.

"H-He's comin' for me! I don't want him to c-come – p-please, I'll be good! I-I promise not to go after Dally, just please don't make him come!" wailed Ponyboy, wrapping his arms tightly over his knees. He rocked himself back and forth, crying into his legs.

The two eldest Curtis brothers shared an extremely bamboozled and melancholy look. They knew who 'him' was – the Soc, obviously – but they didn't know _what _Pony was rambling on about. Why would they bring the Soc to punish Ponyboy?

Then, the door opened to reveal a grimacing Steve and a terrified-looking Johnny. Steve took one glance at Pony and limped over to him immediately, sitting down on the bed beside him.

"He ain't comin', kiddo. No one wants him here – not me, not the gang, and _especially _not your brothers. He can't get to you with all of us around to protect you, so calm down and take a rest; you look stressed out," said Steve in a rather gentle tone for himself.

Johnny, Soda, and Darry exchanged confused looks. Since when did Steve get along with Ponyboy? However, though, what Steve said did the trick. Pony soon became tranquil and placid and he laid back down on the bed, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

"I'm impressed, Steve," said Darry, his eyebrow raised. He looked at his brother's best friend with a bit of curiosity, previously unaware that Steve had a tender side.

Steve scowled slightly. "Don't mention it," he grumbled and limped to the doorway, where he then thoughtfully added, "And by that, I really mean _don't mention it_." The man then walked out and closed the door behind him.

Johnny looked to the slumbering form of Ponyboy and to the spot by the door where Steve had stood earlier. He blinked. ". . . Did that really just happen?"

He received no reply; Soda and Darry were just as baffled as he was.

* * *

><p><em>All he saw was darkness. All he felt was darkness. All he smelt was darkness. Darkness was <em>everywhere _– and he couldn't get away from it._

_Then, a change from the lonely, depressing darkness. Sinister words were whispered in his ear, "My little sexy greaser, I've finally got you where I wanted." _

_He stiffened in trepidation before he felt himself suddenly being thrown to the ground. The next thing he felt was another body climbing on top of his, straddling his hips, fondling and groping him._

_He still only saw black. _

_Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he felt agony. He felt suffering. He felt pain. Especially in his lower back was where he found it the most intense and agonizing. _

_He tried to fight back. He really did try, but the body on top of him was much too strong and powerful for him to push off. The person leaned down to his ear again and said, "You think you can get away? Cute of you to think, but you're going _nowhere._" _

_Suddenly, he didn't just see the dark anymore. He saw red, vibrant and bright redness, pouring out of him. _

"_Beautiful. Absolutely stunning," the voice whispered sadistically. _

_He screamed._

* * *

><p>Ponyboy woke up with his hair plastered to his face with sweat, his heart racing like crazy, and a scream desperate to escape his throat. He wildly looked around the room with wide eyes, and he was relieved to find out that he could see again. What the hell kind of a dream was that? Why could he only see black? Who was that person? And just <em>what <em>was that person doing to him?

Pony was so into his thoughts that he failed to hear the door creak open. When a voice from the doorway said, "Ponyboy, are you alright?" the almost red head flinched and looked up, startled. He saw Johnny watching him solicitously with his dark, black eyes.

_Darkness, _thought Pony immediately, but he shook his thoughts away and said, "I'm okay, Johnnycake. I-I'm confused, though. What happened earlier? I don't remember anythin'."

Johnny shifted uncomfortably by the door, pulling at the collar of his shirt. He then entered the room fully and sat down by Pony. He sighed. "Listen, Ponyboy, what I'm gonna tell you . . . just please don't freak out, okay?"

Ponyboy nodded, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. Was what happened awful enough that he could freak out?

"Well, earlier today, you – you kinda had a breakdown," said Johnny honestly, scratching the top of his greasy black hair. Should he really be starting it this way?

"What? Why?" asked Ponyboy, completely shocked with his widened eyes and gaping mouth. He now urgently wanted to know what had occurred.

"Yeah, that So– I mean _he _called you before, so you went . . . crazy, I guess. Then Dally left and you went to sleep," Johnny said, trying to put this in the most gentle way he possibly could. Unfortunately, he couldn't do much.

Pony gasped loudly. He remembered it all now, but one part stuck out more than the rest. "Dally! I need to go find him before he does somethin' stupid!" he said. He attempted to scramble out of bed and out the door, but Johnny held him down gingerly.

"No, you can't, Pony; you don't know where he is. But I'm sure he's fine – you know Dal, he can take care of himself real good." Johnny offered the younger teenager a crooked smile, trying to show him that the situation wasn't as bad as it seemed.

Ponyboy settled back down into the bed, being comforted and seeing the truth in the last sentence. "Fine," he agreed reluctantly, which made Johnny give out a small, relieved sigh in return. But then the green-gray eyed teenager felt his stomach rumble angrily. Jeez, when was the last time he ate?

"I'm gonna go get somethin' to eat," Ponyboy said suddenly. Johnny nodded at him as Pony stood up, stretched a bit, and then exited the room through the door.

"– the hell, Steve? Are you _crazy_?" Darry's enraged voice suddenly came from the kitchen. Ponyboy, feeling that he was intruding on something, went back to the door to Darry's room to leave, but then he heard Steve speak, and, intrigued by the conversation, decided to stay.

"No, I ain't! I just need the money, Superman, that's all–"

"Did all of those products in your hair seep through to your brain? What you're doing is _dangerous _and _illegal_!"

"Dally does illegal things all the damn time and you don't give a shit!"

"Yeah, but this is a lot more serious! You're outta your mind, Steve. This will get you jailed for so long that you'll be an old man by the time you get out – if you _ever _get out!"

"I won't get caught! I just _really _need the money–"

"All about money these days! Money, money, money! _Who the fuck cares about money_?" Soda's voice suddenly erupted in complete furiousness. Ponyboy gasped, his green-gray eyes wide, shocked that Soda would swear. This must be really, really bad since Soda threw in the f-bomb.

"Soda, don't use that kind of language!"

"Darry, shush," Steve said in a rather odd, calm tone. "Soda, we're broke. My old man lost his job and is drinkin' his fat ass into oblivion. He won't get off the goddamned couch and get another job. We're gonna lose the house if we can't get any money, and the only way to do that quick enough is to get money the way I'm doing it right now."

"We can help!" exclaimed Soda, and Pony thought his voice sounded like he was begging and pleading Steve. "Please let us help, Steve! We can give you some money from our paychecks!"

"I can't let you do that, buddy. That'd be real mean of me to do considerin' what's going on with the kid and everythin'. I-I gotta go now. See y'all later." Pony could hear footsteps heading to the front door. 'The kid'? Steve obviously meant him, but what did he matter to Steve?

"Steve, come back here! If you're going out to do what I think you're doing, you're gonna be in some deep shit with me!" shouted Soda angrily. Then, Ponyboy heard the front door slam loudly.

"That idiot! That stupid idiot! He's gonna get himself killed or jailed!" yelled Soda. The sound of something breaking made Pony flinch from the spot he stood. _Did – did Soda just throw something? _he thought worriedly, chewing on his lip in apprehension.

"Soda, calm down. Think about what would happen if Pone woke up, came in here, and saw you actin' like a maniac? He'd probably panic." Darry's reasonable and logic voice spoke volumes, but Pony heard another crash from the kitchen.

"This is insane! I hate this – I hate it so much!" screamed Soda. Pony flinched at how loud his brother was yelling; this wasn't like Soda at all. What was going on with Steve? And why was Soda so furious?

"Soda, what did I tell you?"

"Just shut up, Darry! I can't fuckin' take this any longer!" Loud and angry footsteps were heard sprinting down the hallway, and then the front door was shut loudly.

Ponyboy winced at the sound, but headed towards the kitchen. He was greeted with the sight of Darry sitting down at the table, his elbows on the table as he slowly massaged his forehead.

"Darry?" Pony said in a very quiet and feeble tone; he suddenly felt shy.

Darry's head instantly snapped up to see his youngest brother up. Exhausted blue-green eyes met frightened green-gray eyes. "How much of that did you hear, Pone?" asked the eldest Curtis brother.

"A lot," replied Ponyboy truthfully. Abruptly, his lower lip quivered and wobbled as tears started to burn his eyes. "Darry, I'm scared." He wasn't quite sure what he was scared about. Steve? Soda? Or was it the situation he was in with this Soc?

The brunet sighed and his look softened as he heard Pony choke back a sob. He held out his muscled arms, which Ponyboy happily leaped into and embraced him. The almost red head sobbed into Darry's shoulder and said, "I want Soda back."

But Soda was gone.

* * *

><p>Punch. Hit. Kick. And repeat.<p>

Dally spit out some blood from his mouth, wiping it from his face with one of his hands.

It wasn't his blood.

The tow-headed greaser looked at his victim, who was pummeled to the ground and bleeding profusely. It was a Soc – just a random, lonely Soc he found that he used to vent his anger and frustration onto. He had just about pulverized him already, but he still felt the need for another round.

As he started to attack the Soc once more, a sudden and familiar voice called out, "Dally! Dally, stop!" The blonde haired man scowled – no one told Dallas Winston what to do – and turned around to see who wanted to be beaten now.

It was Two-Bit. The rusty-haired man was running up to him, frantically waving his hands in the air. He reached him and immediately said, "Dal, you're gonna kill him. And Pony ain't gonna be too happy if you get caught and end up in the cooler. How about we go get drinks at Buck's instead?"

Dally bristled a bit, but he cooled down at the suggestion of Buck's. "Fine, let's go. I was just about done with this Soc, anyways." He kicked the unconscious Soc in the stomach again before he turned around and started walking off with Two-Bit.

"So where've you been all this time, man? You just got up and left like Steve – assholes, the both of you," growled Dally, who obviously didn't appreciate one of his buddies leaving at a time like that.

Two-Bit winced, regretting his actions. "Sorry, Dally, but the tension was just too much for me, man. I can't handle it. Have you seen me serious? It's pretty damn scary."

Dally nodded slowly, his eyes slightly narrowed. "Whatever, but if you pull a stunt like that ever again, I'm gonna whop your ass. You just don't fuckin' leave like that; our gang should all be there at a time like this."

Two-Bit raised a challenging eyebrow. "But what about you, Dal? Where are the others?"

The blue-eyed man glowered at his buddy angrily. "Shut the hell up," he grumbled, glaring down at the ground as if it was the sidewalk's fault.

". . . So you're yellin' at me about leavin' when you did, too?" asked Two-Bit, standing a bit farther away from Dally as a safety precaution. If the blonde became angry enough to hit him, then he could escape with less scrapes.

"I told you to shut the hell up! You don't know what happened after you left! Steve came back blue and black all over for gettin' in some fight that he won't tell us about, and then you know what happens? The fuckin' psychopathic Soc that was touchin' Pony _called _him, told him he wants to see him again, and said to tell me and his brothers 'hello.' _What the fuck_? Who the hell does that?"

The color in Two-Bit's face was instantly drained. "_What_?" he shouted angrily and kicked a nearby trashcan in rage. He swore colorfully and yelled out, "Bullshit! This is _bullshit_!"

"That's what I said! Now come the fuck on, let's go to Buck's already."

With that said, the duo continued to stomp the rest of the way to Buck's, each of them muttering angry curses or grumbling about good-for-nothing Socs. When they arrived to Buck's, they immediately went to the bar and began the start of many, many alcoholic beverages.

"A-And ya know w-what's the f-f-funniest part of all of this?" Two-Bit asked unsteadily, holding a beer carelessly in one hand. He moved said hand and the alcohol sloshed out of the cup and onto his Mickey Mouse shirt, but the facetious man didn't notice.

"W-What?" Dally asked just as unsteadily, but he smartly left his beer alone on the table.

"Nothin'!" Two-Bit roared with laughter and patted himself on the back for coming up with something so brilliant. He spilled the beer around even more, but he still didn't care. Then, he made way to stand up, but he fell flat on his face. Dally laughed at him meanly.

They, in an attempt to cope with this condition, drank themselves into oblivion.


	12. Soul Survivor

Guess who _finally_ updated?

Well, first of all, thank you for all of the reviews! Also, thank you for everyone who said that they were glad that my family and I were okay. And Lilian'Chic, thank you for the flowers, I'll be sure to keep them in a vase XD

Oh, and I love people who give me criticism! I will most gladly accept any and use it to my advantage! :D

PS: The movie mentioned is "Bonnie and Clyde".

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><p>Sodapop Curtis was officially pissed. He was furious at Steve, who was practically begging to be locked up for years and years now, and at the situation with his kid brother and this nasty Soc. What was this Soc's problem? Why would he go after Ponyboy, of all people? Was it because Pony was good-looking or was it because he had something against greasers?<p>

But whatever it was, Soda knew this was way out of control.

For Pete's sake, this Soc – whoever he was – almost _raped _Ponyboy. And now he was calling him, leaving bizarre and foreboding messages about meeting him again? No way, not if Soda had a say in this.

So, anyway, you're problem thinking to yourself, 'Where did Soda go?' Well, Soda, in his red, enraged haze, didn't even notice where his feet were taking him until a few minutes ago. Before that, all he knew was that he was going somewhere, but he hadn't really paid attention to that fact. Now, Soda, familiar with the path he was headed on, knew exactly where he was going – to the movies.

He didn't know why he was going to the movies. In fact, he didn't even know how he knew the path unconsciously. However, he didn't change course of where he was headed. He actually sped up a notch.

_Stupid Soc, _thought Soda extremely bitterly, a furious scowl on his face, _he just had to go after _my _kid brother. If – no, I mean _when _– I find out who he is, I will personally beat the tar out of him. No, wait, I'll do _more _than just beat the tar out of him. I'll make him wish he was never even born. _

Soda, who was so caught up in his irate thoughts, was suddenly jarred back to reality when he felt someone bump into him. He sprawled out on the uncomfortable, hard, wooden floor of the movie house due to the hit, rubbing his aching head; that was where he was bumped into.

"Watch where you're going," growled Soda angrily, although he still had a pained expression on his face as he stood up and soothingly massaged his forehead. Damn, that _hurts_.

The person he ran into stood up, as well. Soda glared at him with narrowed and wary brown eyes when he saw the beginning of a haughty and cold smirk making its way on the person's – who he could identify as a Soc, now that he had a good look of him – mien.

"What are you smirkin' at, Soc?" spat Soda rather harshly. He honestly didn't care if he was just asking for a fight. He was mad and exhausted and just plain _sick _of everything, especially with Steve and this Ponyboy-Soc situation; he deserved every once and a while to burst.

However, all the Soc did was just stand there, unnervingly smirking at the middle Curtis brother with a dangerous gleam in his eyes. Soda raised his eyebrow at him before pushing him out of his way. That Soc looked awfully familiar. . .

All Soda did, though, was shake those thoughts out of his head. Of course that Soc looked familiar; he looked about the same age as Soda himself and had probably seen him around school before he dropped out.

Soda, completely out of his thoughts now, then found a seemingly good seat in the movie house and settled down in it. He looked up at the screen and saw that the film was already quite a bit into the movie; it's going to be a pain to know what's going on now.

After a good half an hour of moving around in his seat, tapping his foot impatiently, and desperately trying to find out the plot of the film, Soda found himself absolutely bored. He stared up at the screen with dull eyes, squinting a bit. He honestly had no idea what was going on – all he knew was that there was this young couple going around and robbing banks. He thought that that was pretty strange.

Another fifteen minutes passed. Soda completely gave up on figuring out the movie and just sat there in his seat, glaring down at the floor. Then, he realized something. Why was he in the movie theater in the first place? He normally couldn't even sit long enough to enjoy a film, so what possessed him to come here?

_Ponyboy likes to watch movies, _thought Soda idly before he nearly smacked himself for thinking about his younger brother. No, he didn't want to think about anything in this whole situation. He had to escape from it, if only for a little while. It was better than nothing.

_I need to get out of here. It reminds me too much of Pony, _thought Soda again. He then hopped out of his chair and immediately sped out of the theater, just running and running at nowhere in particular until his feet grew tired and weary. That was finally when he stopped and took a good look around him.

The first thing he noticed was that he was at Buck's place – he recognized the smell of alcohol and the sight of empty liquor bottles littered on the ground. He had no idea what he was doing here, but he was immensely glad that he came. Now, he could get drunk until he passed out. What a _perfect _way to forget everything.

With that in mind, Soda opened the door and strode in as if he owned the place. Immediately, he spied Two-Bit and Dally at the bar, laughing their heads off and taking big gulps of their alcoholic beverages. Golly, how long had they been here already?

"Hey, y'all," said Sodapop, rushing over to his two intoxicated buddies. He quickly placed an order for a drink to the bartender before they could respond.

"Hey, S-S-Soda. Whatcha d-doin' here?" asked Two-Bit unsteadily, giving Soda a large, shit-eating grin as he continually sloshed his drink all over the place. A few drops landed on Dally's black, leather jacket, but the blonde didn't seem to notice. If he had, Two-Bit most likely would've had his head slammed to the counter.

"Just decided to go to the bar for once. Are y'all all right, though? You two seem kinda like you had enough to drink already," observed Soda, trying to change the subject casually.

"Pfft!" Dally suddenly chuckled hoarsely, spilling his alcohol on Two-Bit as well. Soda wasn't sure if that was on purpose or not. "I d-don't have any goddamned idea whatcha talkin' 'bout, S-Soda. I'm freakin' _dandy_."

Two-Bit nodded slowly, still grinning. "Yeah, what Dal s-said. Just t-take your d-drink already." He pointed to the recently placed beverage on the table.

Soda blinked. He hadn't noticed that that was there. He took a sip of the bitter liquid and shuddered a bit – he was unused to how pungent alcohol tasted like; it tasted just like cough syrup. Nevertheless, after he took a few more sips, it tasted progressively better, leaving a warm, satisfied feeling in his stomach.

He continued to drink.

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><p>"I don't know what to do anymore, Darry. I'm so confused. All I know is that I want Soda and Dally and Two-Bit and Steve to come back, and for none of this to ever happen. I-I just want everythin' back to normal. Y'know, when we were all happy and stuff," Ponyboy said as he continued to sob into his eldest brother's chest. All of this was taking a drastic toll on him; he had to release it somehow.<p>

Darry sighed wearily, tightening his hold around Ponyboy's petite form. "I know, baby. That's all I want, too."

"A-And I keep havin' real strange nightmares. Before I woke up earlier, I had a dream where I c-couldn't see anythin' and then there came this guy, and he whispered stuff to me and got on me and he . . . he started t-touchin' me, Dar," Pony barely whispered the last few words. He sniffled a few times, digging his head deeper into Darry's chest.

Darry was tense momentarily before he held onto Ponyboy even tighter, squeezing Pony. "He ain't gonna get you, Pone. He ain't gonna be within a hundred miles of you when I find him." Damn this Soc – all he's been doing is wreaking havoc on everyone, especially on the baby of the gang.

And Darry'll be damned if he gets away with it.

As Pony's cries grew weaker and softer by the passing minutes, said male sniffled and took his head out of Darry's chest, but still left his arms encircling Darry's waist. Then, the sound of one of the bedroom doors creaking open was heard. Ponyboy and Darry both turned to look at the intruder, but all they saw was a rather sheepish and nervous-looking Johnny.

"I-Is everythin' all right? I heard yellin' earlier," said Johnny quietly, his hands shoved in his jean pockets as he shuffled into the kitchen slowly.

"Yeah, we're okay, Johnnycake. Soda and Steve just had a little argument," Ponyboy replied, under exaggerating the situation. He then heard his stomach give a loud, dissatisfied grumble; he had forgotten about his hunger in all of his distress. Pony quickly disentangled himself from Darry and headed to the icebox, going to prepare something to eat.

Johnny hummed, eyeing Pony a bit warily. Compared to what Johnny had heard earlier (the shouts of an unusually wrathful Soda, a mad Darry, the name 'Steve' being mentioned over and over, the front door being slammed twice, and the noisy cries of Ponyboy), the argument between Steve and Soda didn't sound so 'little' at all. In fact, this seemed like the worst fight Steve and Soda had ever had. A short glance at Darry, who had an eyebrow raised at Ponyboy, quickly confirmed his suspicions.

Silence was now suffocating the room, but no one knew what to say. Johnny and Ponyboy were naturally more on the quiet side, and Darry wasn't that talkative either, so the quietude remained.

Then Darry broke it.

"Pone . . . you're stayin' home tomorrow from school," Darry said resolutely.

Ponyboy, who had been currently making himself a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich, stopped dead in his tracks, not moving at all in the slightest. "Why not?"

"This guy – or monster, whatever he is – might try to follow you at school. I don't want him to kidnap you or anythin' like that, so you're gonna stay here tomorrow and not leave the house at all."

"Darry!" whined Ponyboy, slamming the two pieces of bread on the counter as he whipped around to look at his brother face-to-face. "B-But I just wanna forget all this ever happened. If I go to school, it'll help me!"

"Ponyboy," said Darry sharply, staring at Ponyboy with steadfast determination in his icy, green-blue eyes, "you heard me. You're not gonna go to school. I _know _that Soc'll try and find you, so don't even think about sneakin' out or askin' again."

Ponyboy scowled slightly. "Fine," he capitulated before returning to his sandwich making, smothering a slice of bread with so much peanut butter that it appeared to be suffocating.

As Darry sighed tiredly, Johnny felt very awkward. He didn't like to see Ponyboy and Darry fight right in front of him, as if he wasn't here. It made him feel gauche just by standing near them.

Then, the front door flung open and hit the wall harshly and clamorously. Pony and Johnny simultaneously flinched as Darry immediately ran over to the hallway, checking to see who it was.

"Hey, S-Superman, how's it h-hangin'?" Pony heard Two-Bit hiccup loudly.

"Darry, I f-found you. W-Where've you been, m-man?" Ponyboy couldn't help but gasp at the sound of Soda's voice. Soda normally sounded so light and mellow; now he sounded so erratic and unsteady.

"Sodapop Patrick Curtis," hissed Darry incredibly lowly, standing guard between the hallway and the kitchen as he glared fiercely at the drunken and stumbling forms of his three buddies, especially at his blonde brother, "you got _drunk_?"

Soda hiccupped. "Well, w-what else does it look like?" he spat out bitterly as he attempted to stand straight and glower at Darry. However, he promptly fell back against Two-Bit, and both burst out into sudden laughter.

Darry's glare didn't waver in the slightest. He already knew how volatile and unpredictable Soda was when he was drunk – one second he was threatening you with a fork, and then the next he was giving everybody free hugs.

Darry, who was so concentrated on Soda's intoxicated self, didn't notice Dally sneak past him and stumble into the room where Johnny and Ponyboy were.

"Dally?" questioned Ponyboy confusedly at the moment he saw the towheaded greaser stagger in. Pony raised an eyebrow at him, not having realized that Dally had been with Soda and Two-Bit.

Dally immediately turned to look at the younger male with a piercing stare. His ice blue eyes were now melted, staring at Pony with a rather surprising amount of affection. "P-Ponyboy," he called out, rushing over to Pony as quickly as he could, but tripped and fell on the last step.

He landed right on top of Ponyboy.

Memories were instantly triggered at the exact moment he felt Dally on top of him, causing him to go into panic mode. Trepidation swelled up inside of Pony, making his stomach churn uneasily and fearfully. His heart rate quickened. He let out a short scream before he could stop himself. "Get off, get off, please!" he yelped, frantically trying to push Dally off him. For someone who was leaner than a hound dog, Dally was damn heavy.

Then, Ponyboy felt relief replace the cold terror when he no longer felt the uncomfortable and overwhelming touch of Dally on him. He let out a big, shaky breath, wiping away the tears that had been forming in his eyes.

"Are you okay, Ponyboy?" asked Johnny, his black eyes shining with concern as he knelt down beside his best buddy. He was especially careful not to accidently brush up against Pony or anything of the sort.

Pony nodded slowly, and then asked Johnny what exactly happened. It turns out that when Ponyboy had yelled, Johnny had been the first to act and had tried to pull Dally off, but he had not been strong enough to do so. Darry, with Soda and Two-Bit stumbling in their drunken stupor behind him, had sprinted into the room, quickly shoved Dally off Pony, and then shoved him into his room, where he proceeded to shout at him furiously. In fact, Ponyboy could hear the hollering of Darry at this very moment.

"B-Baby, you alright?" Soda questioned rather nervously from behind the duo on the floor, his brown eyes wide and afraid. He wasn't so drunk that he couldn't read the atmosphere, unlike Two-Bit, who was humming to himself cheerfully and off in his own little world.

"I'm okay, Soda," replied Ponyboy a bit smoothly. He stood up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and silently made his way into his bedroom. "I'm gonna go read or whatever. No one bother me."

He shut the door swiftly so no one could protest.

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><p>"You the guy with the stuff?"<p>

"What's it to ya?"

"I want some of it."

"You willin' to cough up the cash for it?"

"Yeah."

"You gonna give it to me or are you just gonna stand there?"

"Sheesh, here you go."

"Pleasure doin' business with you."

"As long as you don't get caught by the fuzz, I'll be back every week."

"All right, now leave. I have more customers, y'know."

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of bed this mornin', huh? What happened, your girl broke up with you for bein' a dealer?"

"Shut your trap before I cut you off, bastard!"

"Fine, just don't cut me off. Please, I really-"

"LEAVE!"

"Whatever, I can see where I'm not wanted."

_Sigh. _"I hate doin' this."


	13. Wanna Be Startin' Something

Holy crap, I'm so sorry that this took so long, you guys! Well, you see, before I started actually writing the story, I made an outline for every chapter, which I would use while I was typing the story up. One day, I took a really good look at it and realized something major didn't make sense. I had to fix it, but in order to do that, I had to completely erase what all the future chapters were going to be about and type in new ones! Unfortunately, that took _way _longer than expected (it was such a pain in the ass to do T_T).

Anyways, I'm so glad that I can now write/submit chapter thirteen! The best part, though, is that summer is just around the corner, which means more writing time! :D And when this story is completed, I have many more ideas to satisfy . . .

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><p>"Has anyone seen my right shoe?"<p>

"You left it by the couch."

"Hurry up already! Y'all are gonna be late!"

"One minute, Muscles!"

Ponyboy sighed as he heard the voices of his brothers and companions shout at one another. They were probably running around, trying to find their things for either work or school. Pony, on the other hand, was idly staring up at the ceiling as he lay in bed, completely bored. Soda or Darry hadn't bothered to wake him since he wasn't going to school today, and Ponyboy simply didn't want to see anyone at the moment.

A day had passed since the incident when Dally had fallen on Ponyboy. Between that time, the latter had mainly kept to himself, reading and drawing as he tried to escape from reality. Sodapop, Two-Bit, and Dally had also sobered up during that time, and they had all been horrified when they realized what Dally had done. Soda, enraged by this, had nearly struck the blue-eyed greaser, but was held down by Darry, who thoroughly explained what had happened. However, Dally did not leave the house. He had stayed for the rest of the day and night, but had been almost completely silent, just thinking. And when Darry had asked who wanted to stay with Ponyboy at home the next day, Dally and Soda had both immediately offered to do so.

Pony, although he felt rather awkward around Dally now, was on pretty good terms with him. Dally had tried to make amends with Ponyboy for touching him, which had surprised everyone a great deal. When Dallas Winston apologizes to you (something he rarely ever does), you can't just say 'no'. Besides, Pony had been very touched by that display, so he had given him a soft, warm smile and graciously accepted the apology. But then Darry had interrupted and told Dally, 'If you try anythin' like that ever again with Pone, me and Soda'll skin you.' Dally had merely scoffed and responded with, 'I ain't got a rep for nothin'.'

But, for the most part, everything was okay. Also, Steve had shown up sometime during the night and, upon seeing Dally on the couch, had slept on the floor. When morning had come, Soda had frozen when he saw Steve dozing on the living room floor, but promptly ignored him. Even when Steve woke up, Soda had refused to acknowledge the other and continued to say nothing to him.

Currently, though, Darry was preparing for work while Johnny, Two-Bit, and Steve did the same, but gathered their things for school instead of work.

Then, a loud crash echoed throughout the house. "Whoops!" a voice shouted. Ponyboy thought the voice sounded like it came from Two-Bit, but he couldn't be too sure.

Pony sighed once again and slowly stood up from the bed, making his way to the bedroom door. He may as well help Two-Bit – or whoever it was – with the mess he created and say good bye to the ones leaving.

When Pony exited the room and stepped into the kitchen, he was greeted with the sight of Two-Bit frantically trying to gather the pieces of a broken plate with his hands. Everyone else either didn't notice what he was doing or pretended to ignore him.

"Two-Bit, don't clean that up with your hands. Use a dustpan," gently scolded Ponyboy, making his presence known. He held the dustpan in his hands, waiting patiently for Two-Bit to take it. The gang looked up, surprised to see him.

"Thanks, kiddo," Two-Bit said, his typically jovial gray eyes currently worried and just a touch softer. He reached for the cleaning equipment and immediately began brushing the pieces into the dustpan.

Ponyboy hummed in response, idly tapping his fingers against his thighs as he watched the gang rapidly gather their things.

Darry, when he was all set, grabbed the keys to his truck and turned to look at Ponyboy. "You'll be all right with these two?" he asked, to which Ponyboy nodded staidly. "Okay, you have a good day now. And if you need somethin', don't hesitate to call me. I'll see you later, Pone." Darry made a gesture as if he was going to touch Ponyboy, but suddenly froze in place, asking his younger brother with his eyes.

Pony rolled his eyes and nodded, half-smiling. He encircled his arms around Darry, giving him a quick hug, since he knew that said male was going to be late if he didn't hurry. "I'll be fine, Darry, but I'm not sure what'll happen to you if you're late . . ." he trailed off.

Darry immediately whipped his head around to glance at the clock, gawking at the time. "Dang it!" he exclaimed. He then ran to the front door and yelled to the others, "I'll leave all of you here if y'all don't hurry it up!"

Of course, that made Steve, Two-Bit, and Johnny jump into action, even more so than before. Within a minute, they gathered the rest of their belongings and leaped out the door, behind Darry. They shouted their goodbyes, to which the three remaining gang members didn't even bother to reply to, knowing that they couldn't possibly hear them from inside the house.

"Honey, you want some breakfast?" Soda offered graciously, smiling gently at Ponyboy with a hint of concern and tenderness gleaming in his bright, brown eyes.

"Yeah, that'd be good," replied Ponyboy, seating himself down on one of the chairs. He glanced over at Dally on his left, who set the newspaper down on the table as he quietly chewed on his bacon and scrambled eggs. "Hey, Dally. You read anythin' interestin' in the paper?"

Dally shook his head. "Naw, nothin' much going on around here."

The rest of breakfast continued like this – some small talk here and there, but the majority of it spent in silence. The trio simply just had nothing to discuss.

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><p>"So are y'all ready for school today?" Two-Bit asked rather cheerfully, smiling happily as he slammed the door to Darry's truck, waving good-bye to the rushing male.<p>

Steve rolled his eyes. "Yeah, absolutely _ecstatic _about it," he replied sardonically. He then made another comment to which Two-Bit then proceeded to tease him, which, somehow, escalated to a playful argument.

Johnny, on the other hand, kept quiet and refrained from putting in his two cents. As the three teenagers made their way into the hallway that was bustling with life, he couldn't help but overhear some of the conversations the other students were having.

"I heard that, over the weekend, there was this Soc and greaser . . ."

". . . and they totally did it, man! I'm not messin' with you, I swear!"

". . . The greaser had a real weird name, somethin' to do with horses, I think . . ."

"Hey, I heard that a greaser and a Soc did it in the back of a car at the Nightly Double!"

"No way, I heard that the greaser was so poor that he offered the Soc sex in turn for money!"

"I heard that it wasn't consensual."

Johnny felt his back stiffen in fear and shock. Lordy, this was all about Ponyboy and the encounter with the Soc! He quickly looked up at Two-Bit and Steve, hoping that they heard the gossip, but saw them still occupied with their banter. Johnny nudged them gingerly and said in a hushed tone, "Everyone's spreadin' rumors 'bout the Soc and Pony. Listen."

With that said, Two-Bit and Steve quieted down and carefully listened to the conversations around them. Quickly enough, however, their eyes widened to the sizes of tennis balls and their mouths were agape.

"Fuck!" cursed Steve under his breath, his lips now twisted into an angered frown. Two-Bit also muttered unkind profanity, his fists clenched tightly together.

"What are we gonna do?" asked Two-Bit in a hurried tone, all signs of joy and mirth now disappeared.

Johnny bit his lip and shrugged his shoulders, attempting to come up with a quick and easy plan to pull off. Should they tell the others to stop? Should they lie and say that it never happened? Should they start a fight?

"Let's tell 'em that Pony was actually sick," Steve said shrewdly, "and that he's not here 'cause he's got it real bad."

Two-Bit patted Steve on the back affectionately, his lips twitching up in a tiny smile. "Glory, you sure are a sharp one, Steve. Where you been hidin' it all these years?" he joked.

Steve rolled his eyes for the millionth time and shoved Two-Bit lightly on the shoulder. "C'mon, what are y'all waitin' for? Let's go." He then sauntered over to the excited chattering of their peers and hitched his thumbs in his jeans, appearing smooth and placid.

Johnny and Two-Bit followed suit and walked after him, keeping up with his leisure pace easily. They stumbled slightly when Steve suddenly stopped mid-stroll.

"Hey, so what're y'all gossipin' 'bout?" Steve asked casually, trying to look generally interested at the group's conversation.

A brunette girl gave Steve a dazzling smile and fluttered her eyelashes at him excessively, stepping closer to him. "Why, we were just _talking _about some Soc and greaser getting it on this weekend. We wanted to know which story was true."

Steve blinked at her and her Midland accent. "All right . . . so who're the greaser" – he flinched just the tiniest bit here – "and the Soc?"

The same girl shrugged carelessly. "The greaser's name was something funky – something to do with horses or donkeys, if I remember correctly – but I'm not sure of the Soc's name. But enough about that, how would you like to buy me some pop later today?" she asked coquettishly, smiling up at Steve with a roguish grin.

Once again, Steve blinked at her attempts at flirting – as if he would go on a date with her; he had Evie. However, he furrowed his eyebrows this time. "Do y'all mean Ponyboy Curtis? Y'all are crazy; he's had the flu all weekend and is still sick. Kid couldn't even stand up straight much less do the nasty with someone."

"Oh." The girl frowned at the news and at the fact that Steve didn't respond to her flirtatious advances. Nonetheless, she shrugged and began to spread the new rumor around.

Fortunately, this new news spread quickly, despite the fact that it disappointed many of the more dramatic and gossipy students of the school; they had been looking forward to a thrilling story since they haven't had one in a while.

So, when Steve, Johnny, and Two-Bit met up with each other to leave the school, everyone knew about how Pony was supposedly 'sick' and that the whole situation never happened. In fact, a few students even went up to them and told them to tell Ponyboy that they hoped he felt better.

However, there were still students who thought the opposite.

As the trio began to exit the school and head over to the Curtis household to see how Ponyboy was faring, Two-Bit saw a few Socs gathered around one of the bigger trees, speaking so animatedly and vociferously that he couldn't help but overhear them.

"That grease – Ponykid, I think – totally had that comin'! Prancin' around here in them flimsy, little clothes like he owns the whole city! No siree, Bob! You can't get away with shit like that, y'all know what I mean? He deserved being touched like that; he was put back in his place, just like a greaser should be!"

Two-Bit froze mid-step and bristled, glaring intensely at the Soc with the big mouth. How _dare _he talk about Ponyboy like that? Pony was the sweetest thing ever! Plus, no one deserves being treated in such a manner – except, maybe, those Socs and whoever committed the crime against Pone – especially a kid, which Ponyboy still was!

Suddenly, he turned around and stomped over to the overbearing, loudmouthed Socs, completely ignoring Steve's and Johnny's cries and protests ("Two-Bit, where are you going?" and "Get back here, dumbass! What the hell do you think you're doing?").

"So . . . I see y'all are talkin' 'bout Ponyboy Curtis," began Two-Bit, his eyes narrowed dangerously as he scowled at the haughtily smirking teenagers, "but do y'all know that he's been sick as a dog the past few days?"

The Soc who had been speaking beforehand snorted loudly and obnoxiously. "My ass he's been sick; he was elopin' with some guy by the Movie House. And he sure as hell deserved whatever was thrown at him."

Then, without any warning, Two-Bit slammed his fist in the Soc's face.

* * *

><p>"So, Dally, how've you been lately?" Soda asked casually as he sat down on one of the chairs in the living room, across from the couch that Dally currently sat on. He stared at the other a bit too intensely.<p>

Dally raised an eyebrow and gave him a 'are-you-freaking-stupid' look. "Well, I don't really know, Soda. How do you _honestly_ think I've been? I mean, considerin' the fact that your kid brother has this lunatic Soc after him and a whole bunch of other shit happenin' that I don't feel like mentionin' at the moment."

Soda winced slightly. "So I see you're not in a good mood."

"Soda, I swear to God, I am one comment away from beatin' the tar outta you."

"Scratch that - you're _definitely _not in a good mood. More like real pissed." Soda's lips were twitching upwards, trying to fight gravity.

"Why I outta-"

Dally was suddenly interrupted by the door raucously slamming into the wall, causing Soda to flinch at the unpleasant sound and Dally to stop speaking and peer at whoever opened the door.

What - well, technically, _who _- he saw was most certainly not pleasing. At all.

There, standing by the door in all their damaged glory, was Two-Bit, Steve, and Johnny. That fact wasn't bad, in fact it was rather great. However, the fact that they were all marred in one way or another was absolutely _not _great.

"What the hell happened to you guys? Y'all got hit by a tornado?" asked Dally, his facial expression and tone of voice blase as he scanned his friends' seemingly endless number of injuries. His eyes mainly lingered on Johnny, despite that the younger teen appeared to be less hurt than the other two.

"Two-Bit just _had _to get in a brawl with some Socs," complained Steve, shooting a nasty glare at Two-Bit as he shuffled over to the living room to rest on the couch.

"Well, why'd you go and do that for?" Soda asked, his tone not accusing but soft and just having an ounce of irritation. He hurried out of the room then and retrieved the first aid kit quickly (they had relocated the spot for it to be closer by since they were using it a lot lately).

Two-Bit gnawed on his bottom lip for awhile as he patiently waited for Soda to return to the room. "Them Socs may or may not have said somethin' nasty 'bout Ponyboy."

Soda froze for a second, his body still leaned over motionlessly over the first aid kit. Then, he snapped his head back to stare at Two-Bit with unusually (for him) piercing eyes. "_What?_"

"Um, well, you see, there were some rumors going on 'bout Pony and the Soc around school-"

"What?" Everybody whipped their heads around in horror to see that Ponyboy was standing in the hallway, his mouth agape in utter and complete dread. "Tell me it's not true, Two-Bit. Tell me that you're just messin' with us." Silence suffocated the room as Pony stared at Two-Bit with beseeching eyes. Two-Bit averted his gaze down at the floor shamefully. "Please, Two-Bit, _please,_" implored Ponyboy.

"I'm sorry, Pone."

It took those three words to drive Ponyboy off of the edge. Suddenly, he felt the world spin around him, out of control, taunting and mocking him with cruel, menacing words. He felt dizzy and his breath quickened to an abnormally rapid pace. Then, abruptly, he was cool and composed once more, wearing an aloof and cold facade.

"I guess that's what I deserve. I shouldn't have been dressin' like a slut and what-not. I should've seen this coming," Ponyboy said as he began making his way to his room to lock himself up there again.

"Ponyboy Michael Curtis, you did **not **just say what I think you said," Darry's deep voice suddenly boomed from the front door. Everyone turned to look at him with wide eyes, startled by his appearance.

Ponyboy shrugged easily. "Well, it's the truth, ain't it? Don't tell me it's not."

"Ponyboy, stop it," Darry growled angrily, frustrated with his youngest brother. He opened his mouth to say more, but Pony went back into his calming cave, slamming and locking the door behind him.

And then, when Pony let out a forlorn sigh and turned around from the door to face his room, he nearly had a heart attack right there and then.

There, calmly - almost lazily, even - seated on his bed, was a stranger, wearing a black ski mask over his face and smirking impishly at him.

His attempted rapist.


	14. I Will Possess Your Heart

Hola amigos! Update time! :D

You guys have seen the new Image Manager, right? Personally, I think it was a great idea for Fanfiction to do, even though I don't know what pictures to use for my own stories XD I really would like a cover for "Desire", though, so I might (I'm not really sure; still deciding whether I should do this or not) make a contest for someone to make a cover in turn for it to be used in the story and for a one-shot of their choice . . . Please review about this; I'd love to hear all of your ideas and opinions (or whether I should do this in general XD).

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><p>"Hey, baby, how're you?" The Soc's smirk grew into one that bore incredible resemblance to a Cheshire cat. He still lazed about on the bed, running his hand down the cover languidly.<p>

Ponyboy gulped loudly, trying not to show his attacker any fear. He wanted to be gallant and prove to the Soc that he was still strong - untouched - from what happened to him. "Who are you? How did you get in here? Why do you keep stalkin' me? What do you want from me?" he asked impatiently, becoming unusually audacious for such a typically fear-inducing moment.

The Soc tutted, wearing the biggest shit-eating grin ever seen as he wagged his finger at Ponyboy. "Patience, honey. It's not wise to let those lovely lips anger the stronger opponent." Ponyboy frowned at this, glaring at him angrily as the Soc paused thoughtfully. "And to your questions, I will not reveal who I am, I entered through the open window, and I wouldn't call it 'stalking.' I'd call it . . . keepin' a wary eye out for your beloved. Oh, and I like you too much to let you go, baby. You're too _perfect_," he purred, winking once at Pony.

Ponyboy grew uneasy on the inside, feeling sick to his stomach. Beloved? Like too much to let go? Baby? Too perfect? Lordy, who was this freak? Does he even know him? "Leave me alone, Soc," Ponyboy said willfully, giving him the nastiest, most menacing look he could come up with as he backed up closer to the door. Shit, why had he locked the door behind him?

"Oh, poor, naive Ponyboy," the Soc began in mock sympathy, his smirk growing voracious, "you don't know."

Pony's eyes narrowed, eyeing the Soc cautiously. "I don't know what?"

The teenager's smirk grew incredibly dangerous, like a predator after finally cornering his prey. "That I don't give up easily." Then, faster than Ponyboy could even comprehend, the Soc leaped off the bed, grabbed him, threw him down on the bed, and pinned his arms and legs down.

Just as Ponyboy opened his mouth to let out a bloodcurdling scream, the Soc threatened, "If you even let out one scream from those delectable lips, I'll be forced to take you with me."

_Take me with you where? _Ponyboy screamed in his thoughts, struggling against the elder man's grip. He opened his mouth to yell, completely disregarding the threat, but he then felt hot, uncomfortable lips force themselves onto his. His muffled protests could be heard, but whether the Soc honestly didn't hear him or chose to ignore him wasn't clear.

The Soc kissed him harshly for a long time, still pinning his arms over his head. Ponyboy attempted to fight his restraints, but, unfortunately, to no avail. The muscled man overpowered him in strength, despite the fact that Pony himself was no slack of a fighter.

Then, as the Soc brought his knee up and put it in a place of Pony's that the whole gang would have his head for, Ponyboy couldn't help but give out a few, soft whimpers.

His attacker heard those and gave him a hazardous smirk. "You like that, huh? Well, there'll be a whole lot of that." He then proceed to push his knee with even more force. Once again, Ponyboy mewled.

"Y'know, you should've been named Catboy instead with all of that meowing you're doing. No, even better, _Kittyboy._" The Soc offered him a lecherous look, his smirk growing more lewd by the passing seconds.

Ponyboy mentally berated himself as he let loose yet another whimper, causing the other male to spew even more vulgar and ribald comments. Dammit, how could he be this weak? He should be ashamed of himself, which he was. He couldn't even fight back against this teenager! He was supposed to be a Curtis, not some frail, brittle thing!

The next thing the Soc did was unexpected, which made Ponyboy yelp a bit too loudly. His attacker looked at him angrily, looking as if he was about to strike Pony, but a voice called out from the other side of the door, stopping his advances.

"Ponyboy? You all right, honey?" It was Soda. The tone of his voice was tender and solicitous, yet it held something else Pony wasn't sure of, but thought it was somewhat akin to . . . fear?

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay, Soda. Sorry for talkin' like that earlier; I must've been outta my mind," Ponyboy lied quickly.

A relieved sigh came from the other side. "I'm glad you feel that way, Pone. Don't ever talk crazy like that ever again, you hear? You really scared me and the rest of the gang, you know that?"

"I'm sorry for scarin' you," Pony replied, trying hard to mask his tone of voice with sincere sorrow and culpability.

"It's okay, baby. You gonna come out for dinner later?"

"Um, yeah, just yell out when it's done."

"All right." Then, the two inside the bedroom heard the patter of Soda's feet leave the door. The moment they couldn't hear him anymore, the Soc looked pleasantly relieved, but also stared at Ponyboy with a bit of smugness.

"You know what? I could fuck you, right here and now, without your big brothers or the rest of your over protective gang knowin'. I would love to see them completely disappointed and angered at themselves for lettin' you get raped right under their noses. What do you think, baby?"

Ponyboy looked at him with horror, the realization finally dawning on him that he could get raped - again. Lordy, you think he'd learn by now. "P-Please don't," he begged weakly, losing all of the willful and obstinate nature he had before.

The Soc pondered over the decision for an exaggeratedly long time, taunting Ponyboy with how much power he held over the situation. He then took a good look at his victim, seeing the clear trepidation and fear in the younger teenager's mien. The Soc's facial expression slightly softened, and he cupped Pony's cheek with his hand, stroking it tenderly. Ponyboy begged himself not to flinch or shiver.

"Fine, I won't - at least not this time. I have to leave now, anyway," the Soc said. He then quickly stood up from Ponyboy and leaned over the window. "I will see you later, my sexy, little greaser." He waved and winked at Pony before he hopped out the window.

It was not until a few minutes after the Soc left that it dawned on Ponyboy that he had been touched yet again, his attacker had snuck into his house without permission, and he had been threatened by said attacker.

He screamed loudly.

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><p>"Golly, I'm real sorry, Soda. I should've noticed the kid before I opened my big mouth," apologized Two-Bit, who was seated on the couch with Steve by his side. He stared at Soda with an immense amount of guilt and regret clouding his typically blithe eyes.<p>

Soda shook his head forlornly, his lips turned upwards with melancholy. "It ain't none of your fault, Two-Bit. Heck, I didn't even notice Ponyboy was there. But what were you sayin' 'bout these rumors?"

"What rumors?" asked Darry as he sighed tiredly and sat down on his comfortable recliner, enjoying the feeling of the cool material on his aching, sore body.

"Well, there were some rumors 'bout the whole Soc and Ponyboy situation going on around school," Two-Bit explained. When he saw the horrified and absolutely furious look on Darry's face, he quickly added, "But don't worry, me, Johnny, and Steve set 'em all straight and told 'em it never happened and that Pony had the flu. It was real easy to do, but some were kinda hard to convince." With a grimace, he gestured to the injuries on his body.

Darry cooled down and settled back against the chair, calm once more. "Thanks for stickin' up for Ponyboy, guys. Me and Soda appreciate it a lot, don't we, Soda?" In response, Soda nodded hurriedly.

Two-Bit puffed out his chest in vanity, smirking pridefully as his eyes gleamed mirthfully. "No need for thankin' me, unusually kind hoods. What you really should be doing is askin' Stevie over here how he got his head out of his ass and defended Pony of all people."

Steve snorted, shoving Two-Bit on the shoulder. "Shut up. It was just a one time thing, okay? Soon everythin' will be back to as it used to be." He sat back against the couch, putting his hands behind his head comfortably.

"Sure, whatever you say. You're warmin' up to that kid - gettin' softer as the days pass - and you know it," Two-Bit teased, smirking even wider.

Steve glared at Two-Bit and opened his mouth to spit out a snarky retort, but before he could do so, a yelp coming from Soda and Ponyboy's bedroom sounded throughout the house. Everyone turned silent, eyeing each other with confusion.

Soda's face paled, his eyes wide with shock and dread written clearly all over his handsome features. "I-I'll go check if Pony's okay." With that said, he quickly stood up and sprinted to the door, speaking in a worried tone.

The gang members remained silent, straining their ears to overhear what the two brothers were saying. Unfortunately, Ponyboy and Soda were both talking rather softly from what they could hear, and they could not make out a word that the duo were saying.

So, when Soda returned back to the living room looking relieved and a bit peaceful, he was immediately hounded with questions, to which he responded that everything was all right. Everyone became relaxed and less tense after that, the atmosphere returning to the easygoing environment from before.

Of course, that didn't last for long.

After another few minutes of chatting and playfully teasing one another passed, a horrid, ghastly cry rang throughout the house.

It came directly from Soda and Ponyboy's bedroom, which the latter was currently inside of.

Darry hopped to his feet first, dashed to the door faster than the speed of light, and banged furiously on it. "Ponyboy! Are you okay?" he hollered worriedly, his eyes wide with unadulterated panic and concern. What was so bad that it caused his kid brother to scream like that?

In response, Pony said absolutely nothing. At the same time, Dally roughly pushed Darry out of the way and tried to open the door, but it didn't budge, instead causing the handle to shake wildly as Dally tried to hurriedly unlatch it.

"Fuck!" Dally cursed angrily and loudly, glaring at the door with hatred before he began rapping it violently with his knuckles. "Ponyboy, what's going on in there? Open the damn door!"

Utter silence. Then, the _click!_ of the door unlocking was heard, and the door slowly, ever so slowly, opened to reveal a very distressed and disheveled Ponyboy. His downcast eyes held fear and fatigue, his clothes were skewed and wrinkled, and he looked as if he'd faint at any given moment.

His appearance evoked a gasp from Soda, who immediately ran over and cradled him in his comforting arms. Ponyboy flinched violently at the display of sudden affection, which caused a heartbroken Soda to release him at once.

"Pony, what's wrong?" asked Darry, his eyes sweeping up and down Ponyboy's body as he meticulously observed him, trying to discover the reason for the previous screaming and the current quietude.

Ponyboy shook his head slowly. "_He _came back." His words were pithy - terse - and he said 'he' as if it was the most baneful, horrible thing in the universe to ever exist.

"_What?_" Dally hissed venomously, yet he didn't even bother to stop to listen to the explanation. He barged into the room and began to search for any sign of the Soc, examing the crumpled, obviously used sheets on the bed with repulsion. He then paused as he felt a gust of wind hit him. With narrowed eyes, he turned around to look at the very open window.

Suddenly, everything clicked.

"He came in through the window," Dally said it not as a question, but as an accusation. He walked out of the room to meet the rest of the gang and their startled, scared expressions.

Ponyboy nodded and said, "You got that right." After he officially confirmed the statement, Darry immediately rushed into the room and shut the window with a large bang.

"When did he come, Pone? What did he do to you? Why didn't you yell earlier? Why are you so _calm_?" Two-Bit asked, his eyes huge and his mouth agape, staring at Ponyboy with an unbelievable and confused look.

"He didn't stay for awhile, he didn't do much, I couldn't yell because he threatened me, and I'm just real tired and sick of this, Two-Bit, not exactly calm," Ponyboy explained wearily, putting his hand to his forehead as he massaged the area. Oh, lordy, he just wanted this over with. He hated the situation he was in, he hated this Soc, and he absolutely, no question about it, hated what this was doing to him.

"Aw, you wanna go lay down, baby?" Soda asked sympathetically, his brown eyes like warm pools of melted chocolate. His hand twitched a bit as he begged himself not to engulf his younger brother in a hug, even though he desperately wanted to do just that.

"Wait, Pone, before you do that, do you remember what he looked like? Anythin' at all?" asked Darry smartly, his intelligence as sharp and keen as ever.

Pony looked down at the ground, furrowing his eyebrows and frowning. His attacker was wearing a ski mask, which meant that he couldn't see much of his face, but he still attempted to dig back to the very recent, fresh memories he still held. The Soc had big muscles and a very creepy smirk, he knew that much, but what else did he have?

As he stared hard at the ground and clenched his fists tightly, Ponyboy replayed the images of his most recent attack. There was the Soc, laying on his bed with that irritating smirk . . . there was the Soc, on top of him, kissing him roughly . . . there was the Soc, leaning toward the window, about to exit, with a gleam in his mischievous eyes . . .

Wait a minute, his eyes! Ponyboy went back to the last memory, staring at it intensely and meticulously, especially concentrating on the eyes. Suddenly, as if the image had previously been black and white, he saw the color of the eyes. For once, he was glad to have a retentive mind.

"Amber eyes - the Soc has amber eyes."


End file.
